STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education needs the help of fellow Oklahomans to save lives through blood donations. CareerTech will host its 61st Oklahoma Blood Institute blood drive Sept. 28.
“OBI has an immediate need for convalescent plasma from donors who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat seriously ill patients. … Available supplies have reached critical levels, and patients will face delays in this lifesaving care if donors cannot be recruited in higher numbers,” OBI stated in a recent release.
Oklahoma CareerTech has been hosting OBI blood drives since 2005. Since that time, the 60 CareerTech blood drives have received 1,242 donations, surpassing the goal of 1,122. Technology centers across the state also regularly host blood drives to support this cause.
“CareerTech employees believe in giving back to their local community,” said Melissa Sturgeon, ODCTE human resources manager. “By participating in blood drives, their donations contribute to the greater good and help save lives.”
In 2019, CareerTech was named the OBI Business of the Year. CareerTech hosted five blood drives in which 111 donations were collected that year. With each donation saving three lives according to OBI, this equals a potential 333 lives saved.
If you would like to donate at the next CareerTech blood drive, sign up at yourbloodinstitute.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/324207. You can also search for blood drives in other areas of Oklahoma throughout the year at obi.org.
About OBI and CareerTech
The Oklahoma Blood Institute is the sixth largest, nonprofit blood collector in America. Blood needed by patients in more than 160 medical facilities in Oklahoma is provided by donors with OBI. More than 125,000 donors provide more than 250,000 gifts of blood yearly for transfusion and associated clinical services. OBI’s mission is to be the donor-to-patient lifeline; providing our communities and medical partners security by meeting transfusion and health care needs.
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources, and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 58 campuses, 394 K-12 school districts, 16 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 32 adult basic education service providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education, and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
