The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 59

American Red Cross of Western New York What: Pa rt of an international organization that secures blood for hospitals and health care providers, provides emergency disaster and assistance, and leads aid, lifesaving, lifeguard, baby-sitting, AED, and nurse assistant training, as well as swimming lessons. Where: Chief blood donation center at 3601 Union Road, Cheektowaga; new one at the Boulevard Mall, 730 Alberta Drive, Amherst. Also collects whole blood donations at schools, businesses and other community settings across the region. Sign up: At redcross- blood.org or by calling 800-733-2767. Blood donor app: Allows you to local blood drives, sign up to donate and learn what hospital used the blood to help a patient.

Sign up at the app store on your smartphone or redcrossblood.org/ blood-donor-app. ConnectLife What: The formerly called Unyts, is a regional-based community blood center and federally designated organ, eye and tissue procurement agency; began collecting blood in 2007. Where: Donation centers in the Eastern Hills Mall, 4545 Transit Road, Clarence; 96 Niagara City of Tonawanda; and the Southgate Plaza, 984 Union Road, West Seneca. About of donations are collected at schools, businesses and other community settings across the region. Sign up: connectlifegive- blood.org, 529-4300.

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center What: Th Donor Center at Roswell Park welcomes donations of platelets for those undergoing chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant, and whole blood for those undergoing surgery or patients who need a boost in strength. Where: On the ground of the main hospital, Carlton and Elm Streets. Sign up: roswellpark.org/ donor-center, 845-8275, org. CSL Plasma What: International company that pays for plasma donations to make medications that help those with hemophilia, respiratory and autoimmune diseases, and who have undergone organ transplants. Where: 1845 Elmwood and 140 Thruway Plaza Drive, Cheektowaga; coming soon to 1234 Abbott Road, Lackawanna; and 2100 Military Road, Niagara Falls.

Sign up: cslplasma.com or on-site. Those who provide plasma are paid. Kedplasma What: An international company that collects plasma from those with Rh negative blood of the population to make the leading vaccine to prevent stillbirths from a condition called hemolytic disease. Where: 15 Limestone Drive, Amherst. Sign up: kedplasma.us/ somerset-laboratories, 631-1281.

Those who provide plasma are paid. Help wanted: Blood At least five enterprises in the region two private and three nonprofit want your blood to save and preserve the lives of others. a snapshot. BY SCOTT SCANLON REFRESH EDITOR ee Downer started donating blood in high school. like helping people and I wanted a way to do said Downer, a health and human services major from Newburgh in her senior year at the University at Buffalo.

The 21-year-old student found a slightly different way to that mission this year and get paid. A friend told her about CSL Plasma, a private company expanding rapidly around the world and in need of more plasma, the vital component in its life-preserving medications. Downer has rolled up her sleeve twice a month since February, when CSL opened its site in the region, in North Buffalo. She got $50 for each of her visits and has received $25 every time since, money she has used to pay bills and buy groceries. CSL opened a plasma collection center several weeks ago in Cheektowaga and will open others soon in Lackawanna and Niagara Falls, adding a competitive twist to blood procurement in a region where the demand for blood often comes precariously close to the available supply.

been running a low inventory for a long, long said Patty Corvaia, spokeswoman for blood services in the American Red Cross New York-Penn region. nervous that this will impact added Amanda Farrell, director of blood donor recruitment with ConnectLife (formerly Unyts). Regional and national blood bank leaders told The Buffalo News that nobody has tried to measure the direct impact of plasma centers on blood donations. It would be hard to tease that out, they said, from factors that include donors with busy lives and lots of options for their time and resources. Regardless, major players in the region want your blood to help others, and a critical time of year approaches.

December, January and July when many people focus on holidays or vacations, and many college students are away during school breaks tend to be the most desperate of times. Instead of focusing on competition, traditional players in the region have used announcements of new plasma centers as an opportunity to differentiate their efforts in ways that will give the public a greater understanding of the important work and needs that come with preserving a healthy local blood supply. biggest difference in the message that we try to bring home when looking for more donors is that our docs in the ER at ECMC are only as good as the blood they have on the shelves to save Farrell said, an important message that people need to know An uneven playing field In the business of blood, plasma is easier to secure. The Red Cross and ConnectLife accept mostly whole blood, which by federal law must be donated by someone no more often than once every 56 days, or six times a year. Platelets can be donated once a week but no more than 24 times a year.

In contrast, plasma can be extracted as often as twice a week 104 times a year through HELPING MEET THE DEMAND Plasma collection centers boost quest for your blood in WNY Derek Gee photo Roswell Park Comprehensive Center collects donations of platelets and whole blood for use by patients in chemotherapy and surgery. Photos by Robert News As a bottle collecting her processed plasma on a machine, University at Buffalo student Dee Downer of Newburgh (top), rests during a collection session at the CSL Plasma center at 1845 Elmwood Ave. At left, UB student Katelyn Rychnowski provides plasma for phlebotomist Jaynah Lewis- Williams. Daymeion Diggs, right, prepares a fresh bottle of donated plasma for the freezer at the CSL Plasma center. 8 Refresh Saturday, November 16, 2019 9 Refresh Saturday, November 16, 2019 See Plasma on Page 10.