City of Hope’s Blood Donor Apheresis Center will soon roll out a new loyalty program for employee blood and platelet donations that not only provides gifts of appreciation and public recognition, but also awards a particularly valuable commodity: time.
Starting in February, the new program called “Giving Hope in Every Way I Can” will use a tiered system to reward City of Hope employees who donate blood or platelets. Program organizers will thank employee donors during the yearlong campaign with gifts such as an umbrella or car shade; upon the fourth and fifth donations, employees will earn four hours of loyalty time for each donation given, up to a total of eight hours in a calendar year.
Blood Donor Apheresis Center leaders will provide details of the new program at a free ice cream social and open house for all faculty and staff on Feb. 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. The center is located on the southeast end of the Duarte, Calif., campus, adjacent to the cafeteria and the Kaplan building.
“Our slogan is ‘Giving Hope in Every Way I Can,’ and I hope that employees do just that,” said Kasie Uyeno, the center’s marketing and recruitment coordinator. The program supplants the previous point-driven incentive program.
As Uyeno explained, City of Hope’s patients constantly need donated blood and platelets. In 2006, the Medical Center broke its record by transfusing more than 30,000 units of blood or blood products during the year — about 2,500 units each month. However, City of Hope donors only provide about 1,500 units of blood a month (1,000 of platelets and 500 of whole blood), the other units must be purchased elsewhere.
City of Hope has about 3,300 employees, but less than 2 percent donate blood or platelets; in comparison, about 5 percent of the general population donates blood, Uyeno said. Center leaders hope to boost those numbers and add about 1,100 units to their yearly total with the new program. All blood collected stays at City of Hope.
Under the new program, employee donors will receive a green logo lanyard and a plastic card, which identifies them as an employee blood donor, to be clipped to their employee badge. Each blood or platelet donation will result in a card punch and an appreciation item. Upon the fourth and fifth donations, employees receive a voucher that may be provided to their workplace timekeeper for four hours of vacation time for each donation. These are called “loyalty hours.”
Employee donors also are eligible for monthly drawings that include a month’s worth of parking in a designated space. In addition, center officials will publicly recognize donors through various media, as well as a year-end barbecue.
Those unable to donate blood may be eligible to participate in the program by designating a non-employee to donate on their behalf. The employee must accompany the non-employee donor to the center for all donations.
For more information on blood donation, visit the center’s Web site at www.cityofhope.org/BloodDonorCenter.
