UPDATE: This week, the American Red Cross has issued an emergency appeal for donations of blood or platelets.
Thanks to this warm time of year, when schools are on break and families go on vacations, the Red Cross of the Northeast Ohio region has seen a sharp decline in donations. The organization would like anyone who is eligible to consider donating blood soon.
For those looking for an added incentive, besides feeling good about yourself, the Red Cross previously announced that blood donors could score free Cedar Point tickets at various times and locations through the end of July (see below).
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[image-1](Original Post 5/25/2017): Donating blood was just one of our suggestions in this week’s summer guide for ways you can make your city a better place. Unbeknownst to us, the Red Cross has an extra incentive for you to so in the coming months: a free Cedar Point ticket, which isn’t anything to shake a needle at.
Here’s all the dates and locations where you can score a ducat gratis around Northeast Ohio through the end of July:
June 1, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at iHeartMedia, 7461 South Ave., Boardman, 44512
June 7, 2017 from noon to 6 p.m. at Geauga County Fairgrounds, School Building, 14373 N. Chesire St., Burton 44021
June 9, 2017 from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Ashtabula Towne Square, 3315 N. Ridge Road E, Ashtabula, 44004
June 13, 2017 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Massillon Recreation Center, 505 Erie St. N, Massillon, 44646
June 14, 2017 from noon to 6 p.m. at Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave., Warren, 44483
June 20, 2017 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Ehrnfelt Recreation Center, 18100 Royalton Road, Strongsville, 44136
June 24, 2017 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Stephen Rung-Meno Memorial Blood Drive, 409 Armour Road, Avon Lake, 44012
June 28, 2017 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Castaway Bay, 2001 Cleveland Road, Sandusky, 44870
July 3, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fairview Recreation Center, 21225 Lorain Road, Fairview Park, 44126
July 7, 2017 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Beta Dr., Mayfield Village, 44143
July 12, 2017 from noon to 7 p.m. at Dave & Busters, 25735 First St., Westlake, 44145
July 18, 2017 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Heartland Community Church, 3400 Weymouth Road, Medina, 44256
July 21, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cuyahoga Community College, West Campus, 11000 Pleasant Valley Road, Parma, 44130
July 25, 2017 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Independence Community Center, 6363 Selig Drive, Independence, 44131
This article appears in May 24-30, 2017.
So gay men excluded I guess
if i go give blood and get a cedar point ticket, do i get to pick when i can go or is it picked for me?
So what about those who cannot donate due to sexual orientation? To me this is just unfair. Another way to discriminate I guess.
Those asking about the exclusions of gays….when was the last time you donated? Maybe MI is different than Ohio, but the question isn’t even there anymore. It’s simply asks if you’re sexually active, if so, then it prompts about protection. That simple, at least in MI. When I donated a couple months ago, and inquired as to why, they said all the blood gets tested anyway, so the answer really didn’t matter much, just helped to tag certain bags for extra rounds of tests before being used.
From the Red Cross’s website:
“I am a man who has sex with another man; do I really have to be celibate for 12 months before giving blood?
Yes. The FDA revised guidance states, Defer for 12 months from the most recent sexual contact, a man who has had sex with another man during the past 12 months. All U.S. blood collection organizations must follow this federal requirement.”
So yes, unless a gay man is celebrate for a full year before giving blood, they are ineligible. But maybe you can show up and still get a free ticket, who knows.
FYI, to receive a Cedar Point ticket you must first register ahead of time at one of these blood drives. We found out the hard way that by just showing up they did not have enough tickets to go around. My husband donated, but was told afterwards that they didn’t have enough tickets. They said they would mail them if they had any extra, but we’ve never gotten one.
Right! We were never told we needed an appointment when we first called. They originally told us there weren’t enough tickets when we walked in on Monday, the 3rd. , Those with appointments got their tickets right away.
Walk-ins were handed a clipboard with a list, upon which my wife and I added our names and our address.,.after which they “promised” that our tickets would be in the mail within a week.
Hell, we were already on the gurneys by that point, and we had already shrugged and assumed that we had been stiffed. I think the clipboard was just a scheme to shut people up and to avoid more whining, as there was already a long wait for incoming donors. There was quite a turnout in Fairview Park, and the Red Cross seemed to be short-handed.
If we don’t get anything by next Friday, I will assume we were bullshitted, and that we won’t get anything but a thank-you for being good citizens and for donating. Which is mostly okay. It’s the right thing to do…and we also went ahead and donated because they hinted there “might” be tickets available.
They should have told us to make an appointment when we called weeks earlier, to avoid misunderstandings and disappointments. But somebody dropped the ball on that score
At this point, getting a ticket of any kind will be a bonus. I’m betting we won’t get any. Can’t get blood from a stone, and I guess you can’t get a free outing from your blood, either.
Chuckles the Clown
The knowledge that you saved lives SHOULD be enough of a reason to give. The people whining about not getting Cedar Point tickets should be ashamed of them selves.
Since I haven’t been to Cedar Point in more than fifteen years, or donated for forty, it was quite an enticement.
Yeah, sure…I did a “mitzvah” ( Yiddish for “good deed”), and possibly saved a life, but I don’t appreciate being misled…or lied to.
And that’s exactly what they did when they promised tickets for ALL donors. Passing that clipboard around only compounded the lie…with yet another lie.
All that the Red Cross needed to do, when we called, was to ASK US what time we could come in, and we would have said “Monday, July 3, at 9AM”…and there would have been no misunderstandings and no whining.
A promise is a promise…and it was broken. The bottom line is that a whole lot of folks were hosed. You can say that a sheep has five legs until you turn blue, but calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.
Chuckles the Clown