During the week of June 13 – June 17, seven local general contractors hosted the inaugural “Greater New Orleans Construction Community Blood Drive”. With the summer being a notoriously slow time for blood donations, Gibbs Construction, Ryan Gootee General Contractors, LEMOINE, Broadmoor, Woodward Design+Build, Landis Construction, and DonahueFavret, teamed together to increase donations for Ochsner’s Blood Bank and show the impact our local building industry can have in our community.

“Blood is needed for a variety of medical needs, and every donor is critically important to maintaining an adequate blood supply for our communities,” said Donny Dumani, MD, section head of transfusion medicine, Ochsner Health. “We can help save someone’s life or bring a patient relief with the simple act of donating blood. We, at Ochsner Health, are grateful to these local businesses coming together to host this week-long blood drive and by doing so, raising awareness of, and encouraging blood donation.”

The weeklong drive saw 67 donors to build the bank of blood supply. Ochsner collected 57 productive units of blood and will help approximately 200 patients in need of blood and blood components.  Gia Pieri of Woodward notes, “This has been a powerful experience as the marketers of each normally competing firm have been working together to develop, plan, and promote this cause to benefit a local organization we are all deeply tied to.”  The group hopes to build on the success of this event and continue the community blood drive next year with even more participation.