Details released for 35th Annual Orange and Blue Blood Drive

MEDIC Regional Blood Center and their counterparts at the Kentucky Blood Center have announced details of the 35th Annual Orange and Blue Blood Drive. This year’s competition between fans of the University of Tennessee and the University of Kentucky will run November 14^th through the 18^th at all of MEDIC’s mobile blood drives and their four fixed donation centers.

The four (4) fixed donor centers are:

Ailor Avenue – 1601 Ailor Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37920

Farragut/Kingston Pike – 11000 Kingston Pike, Ste. 4, Farragut, TN 37934

Athens – 213 E. Washington Ave., Ste. 104, Athens, TN 37303

Crossville – 96 Hayes St., Ste. 202, Crossville, TN 38555

Mobile Drives:

Monday:

Blount Memorial – 10 AM to 6 PM

Books-A-Million/Oak Ridge – 10 AM to 6 PM

Food City/AJ Hwy – 10 AM to 6 PM

UT/Neyland Stadium/Gate 21 – 10 AM to 6 PM

Hey Bear Café/Knoxville – 11 AM to 7 PM

Tuesday:

UTRF Business Incubator – 8 AM to 4 PM

Food City/Tazewell – 10 AM to 6 PM

Kingston Gravel Pit Park – 10 AM to 6 PM

UT/Neyland Stadium/Gate 21 – 10 AM to 6 PM

Hammer’s/Halls – 11 AM to 7 PM

Wednesday:

Tellico Village Wellness Center – 10 AM to 6 PM

UT/Neyland Stadium/Gate 21 – 10 AM to 6 PM

Walgreens/Oneida – 10 AM to 6 PM

Walmart/East Morristown – 10 AM to 6 PM

UT/Hess Hall – 12 PM to 7 PM

Thursday:

Walmart/Maryville – 10 AM to 7 PM

Big Lots/Jefferson City – 10 AM to 6 PM

Walmart/Clinton – 10 AM to 6 PM

Walmart/Sevierville – 10 AM to 6 PM

UT Student Union – 11 AM to 6 PM

Friday:

Pellissippi State Community College – 8:30 AM to 4 PM

UT/College of Law – 9 AM to 5 PM

UT/Hodges Library – 10 AM to 6 PM

Walmart/Newport – 10 AM to 6 PM

This is the 35th year for the competition with MEDIC has won 14 times and Kentucky with 19 wins in the series. MEDIC won in 2021 and is looking for another big win in 2022. This competition is imperative for the regional blood supply through the holiday season.

Donors in Tennessee will receive a special edition t-shirt, a $10 e-gift card (valid email address required), Petro’s coupon, Salsarita’s coupon, Texas Roadhouse coupon, Dunkin coupon, Papa John’s coupon, Smoothie King coupon, and a ticket to the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Fantasy of Trees.

MEDIC is the primary blood product provider for 24 hospitals in 22 counties including Blount Memorial, Covenant Health, East TN Children’s Hospital, Tennova Healthcare, and UT Medical Center.

Appointments are preferred to mitigate wait times. Donors can call 865-521-2682 or 865-524-3074 to schedule their appointment. Donors can also visit www.medicblood.org/donate or use the donor app to search for a drive closest to them and schedule their appointment.

As a reminder, the blood, platelets, and plasma products on the shelves now are what would be used in a trauma event, and it takes at least three days for donated blood to be processed and ready for distribution. Demand remains high while donations have been low this summer.

MEDIC is an independent, nonprofit organization. Products donated through MEDIC truly help East TN and Southeastern Kentucky community members. Products donated through any other collection activity/organization do not stay in East TN or Southeastern Kentucky. Those products are shipped out of the area and nationally.

For more information or to make an appointment to donate blood, visit www.medicblood.org today.