Arizona Cardinals blood drive completely full for Tuesday

This has been quite the month and on Thursday the Arizona Cardinals announced that they would be hosting a large blood drive to help with the shortage due to the Covid-19 crisis.

One area that has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 crisis is the local blood donation community, where the supply has reached critically low levels.

Since March 19, nearly 200 Arizona blood drives have been cancelled, resulting in the loss of more than 5,000 blood donations for hospital patients.

To assist in meeting this direly pressing need, the Arizona Cardinals are partnering with Dignity Health and Cigna to host a major one-day blood drive at State Farm Stadium.

In conjunction with Scottsdale-based Vitalant (pronounced “vye-TAL-ent” and formerly known as United Blood Services) the event will take place at State Farm Stadium on Tuesday, March 31 from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM.

Well, fans responded and have filled all available appointments for the blood drive:

As of Friday morning, all appointment slots for Tuesday’s event hosted by Scottsdale-based Vitalant (pronounced “vye-TAL-ent”) have been filled in less than 24 hours.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Only those who have registered in advance and have a confirmed appointment time will be able to donate on Tuesday. Unfortunately, walk-ups cannot logistically be accommodated.

While current mandates are to avoid gatherings, blood donation drives are critical and essential health care activities. The stadium’s size and the event’s operational set-up ensure the ability to accommodate those who have registered for Tuesday’s drive while still adhering to important physical and social distancing guidelines

“The enthusiastic and immediate response from the community for this blood drive has been overwhelming,” said Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. “We are so grateful to those who have registered to donate as well as to our partners at Cigna and Dignity Health and to Vitalant for hosting Tuesday’s event. The need is still great and we are in the process of planning additional events to accommodate those who were unable to participate in this initial effort.”

Be on the lookout as the Cardinals are trying to plan more of these events during this very odd time in our community.