Our Bloodmobile Campaign is 100% Funded!
Thank You Supporters!
Bloodmobiles Help Us Save More Lives
San Diego Blood Bank is embarking on an ambitious and vital mission: to raise $750,000 for the purchase of a new bloodmobile, enhancing our ability to reach and serve communities across the region.
Since 1950, San Diego Blood Bank has been a critical community partner in advancing San Diego’s healthcare infrastructure by providing local hospitals with a steady, safe, and robust blood supply.
Our bloodmobiles are essential in providing accessible and convenient blood donation opportunities throughout the entire Southern California region. These special vehicles help us collect more than 50% of our annual blood supply, ensuring that San Diego Blood Bank can meet the needs of our hospital partners and the local patients we serve. Together, in partnership with the community, we save lives.
The Importance of Bloodmobiles
Bloodmobiles are the lifeblood of our Blood Collection Program and mobile donation efforts. These specialized vehicles travel to schools, businesses, community centers, and events, making it easier for donors to give the gift of life. In parts of San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles and in remote areas farther away from one of our 10 Southern California donation locations, bloodmobiles bridge the gap, ensuring that lifesaving blood is available for those who need it most. We bring the mobile blood drive to you and into your community!
Our current fleet has served us well, but as our vehicles age, the need for reliable and efficient replacements becomes more pressing. A new bloodmobile will not only replace an older unit at the end of its 20-year lifespan, but also introduce state-of-the-art features designed to enhance the overall donor experience and streamline the donation process.
Bloodmobiles Drive Blood Donor Recruitment—Increasing Diversity in the Donor Pool
Community partner blood drives play a critical role in attracting new lifesavers to participate in giving blood—In 2023, thousands of new blood donors donated with San Diego Blood Bank for the first time on a bloodmobile. Whether at a work blood drive, church–sponsored, or at a big event like the Padres Blood Drive, our bloodmobiles transform regular folks into lifesaving heroes who give the gift of life.
By bringing blood donation opportunities to places where people frequent like shopping centers, community centers, and in partnership with local businesses, the convenience of hopping on a bloodmobile to quickly donate blood is a simple way to do something wonderful for others in need.
Why We Need Your Support
The goal of raising $750,000 is achievable with the support of our community and supporters like you. And together, we did!
San Diego Blood Bank is a nonprofit blood bank committed to saving lives by ensuring that quality, safe blood products and biotherapies are on the shelves for all Southern Californians, precisely at the moment of need. By contributing to this capital campaign, you are directly impacting our ability to save lives.
San Diego Blood relies on philanthropy to purchase capital resources like equipment, vehicles, and materials that help to expand our reach into new areas by building out new donor centers, such as our newly opened location, Clairemont Mesa Donor Center.
Here’s how financial donations make a difference:
- Enhanced Accessibility: A new bloodmobile will allow us to visit more locations, reach new communities and increase the number of donations we can collect.
- Improved Donor Experience: Comfortable donor beds and modern equipment like HemoFlows and Trima apheresis machines ensure blood collection is efficient and safe and by creating a comfortable environment, more donors will have a positive experience, encouraging repeat donations.
- Increased Reliability: New vehicles mean fewer breakdowns, blood drive cancellations and interruptions, and quieter and more reliable hybrid generators, ensuring that our blood drives run smoothly and efficiently.
- Reduced Carbon Footprint: Hybrid vehicles ensure San Diego Blood Bank’s fleet meets California CARB mandate standards leading to a reduction in our carbon footprint. Solar panels ensure clean, efficient energy usage.
- Expanded Capacity: With a new bloodmobile, we can increase our collection capacity, meeting the growing demand for blood in our hospitals and emergency services. As a member of Blood Emergency Readiness Corp (BERC), SDBB serves as an on-call blood center to aid in national crises and natural disasters should they arise.
How Your Support Fuels Our Mission at San Diego Blood Bank
Our bloodmobile fundraiser kicked off in September 2024, and together we have raised 100% of our $750,000 goal as of April 28, 2025!
Thank you to all who have supported our Bloodmobile Campaign!
Thanks to the $100,000 Matching Gift sponsored by San Diego Self Storage and Managing Partner, Anthony R. Carr, and gifts from Barona, Grossmont Healthcare District, with the support of individual and corporate financial supporters we are expecting our new bloodmobile in Fall 2025!
Every single donation brought us closer to our goal and will make a significant impact on our community.
Here are some ways you can get still get involved:
- Financial Donations: Visit our Fundraising for Vehicle donation page to make a secure online contribution. Every dollar ensures we have the funds to serve our community. Make a one-time, quarterly, or monthly financial gift at the level that works for you.
- Corporate Sponsorships: Partner with us as a corporate sponsor. Your business, organization, or community group can play a crucial role in funding the new bloodmobile while gaining widespread visibility and demonstrating a commitment to community health—impacting thousands of lives. Contact cclector@sdbb.org
- Fundraising Events: Organize or participate in fundraising events. From bake sales to charity runs, every effort helps raise awareness and funds for our cause. Fundraise on Facebook for San Diego Blood Bank
- Spread the Word: Share our campaign with your network. The more people who know about our need, the faster we can reach our goal.
The Impact of Your Financial Gift
Every donation to our bloodmobile campaign is an investment in the health and well-being of our community. With your help, we can ensure that blood donation opportunities are accessible to everyone, regardless of their location.
Patients like Ella, Kamila, Sevey, and Selina rely on blood to stay alive to treat life-threating anemia. Mason often requires blood transfusions to support his battle with Crohn’s Disease. Bryan is grateful for blood transfusions that ensured he survived a traumatic accident that almost claimed his life.
Every gift ensures that together, we can save more lives and advance community health.
The Drive to Save Lives
Thank you for being a part of this transformative campaign. By supporting the San Diego Blood Bank, you are investing in life and fueling the future of health. Together, we can make a lasting impact on our community.
Learn more about how you can help keep our mission in motion and make your gift today.
Your support matters. Let’s fuel community health by driving change together. Thank you for being a hero for people in need.
Bloodmobile Campaign Milestones
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! This Campaign is 100% Funded
- April 29, 2025— 100% Funded! Special thanks to Barona and Grossmont Healthcare District and individual supporters for helping us reach our campaign goal! We’re looking forward to the arrival of this bloodmobile in Fall 2025.
- December 27, 2024—Thank you to The Morrison & Foerster Foundation for their generous donation of $15,000 to support our bloodmobile campaign. The new bloodmobile is now 86% funded!
- December 13, 2024—Matching Gift Completed. We are thrilled to announce that thanks to the generosity of individual and foundation donors, we have successfully met the $100,000 matching challenge set by San Diego Self Storage and Managing Partner, Anthony R. Carr! We are deeply grateful to our community for their support in helping us fulfill our mission of saving lives. 82% Funded
- November 22, 2024— Thank you to these generous Bloodmobile Campaign supporters: Hoag Foundation $36,000 grant, San Diego Woman’s Club $35,000 grant, and the Beyster Family grant $5,000, together with more than 100 individual financial donors, brings us to almost 50% of our campaign goal!
- November 15, 2024—We’ve raised more than $250,000 of our $750,000 goal! That’s 33% funded!
- October 1, 2024—$100,000 Matching Gift Challenge begins and runs through December 31, thanks to our generous supporters, San Diego Self Storage and Managing Partner, Anthony R. Carr.
- September 30, 2024—$5,000 Matching Gift Complete! Thanks to individual financial donors for securing $10,000 toward a new bloodmobile. Our new total is $85,000 raised of our $750,000 goal.
- September 21, 2024—$5,000 Matching Gift unlocked thanks to long-time supporter Rebecca Blakely Bashforth and an anonymous donor, runs through September 30.
- September 20, 2024—$20,000 Matching Gift Complete! Thanks to the incredible support of individual donors and our matching gift sponsors, we have successfully met our $20,000 matching gift challenge, raising $40,000 of our $750,000 goal!
- September 1, 2024—$20,000 September Matching Gift begins thanks to John P. Martin Foundation, long-time donor John Howard, and another anonymous donor.
- August 17, 2024—Celebrating National Nonprofit Day, we kicked off the Drive to Save Lives campaign to fund a new bloodmobile!
For more information about corporate sponsorship, philanthropy, and other ways to make a gift, please contact Cherryl Castro-Lector, Director of Financial Development at cclector@sdbb.org or call (619) 400-8214.
Originally published on September 13, 2024. This content was updated on October 2, 2024.
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