Update: The Blood Connection soft-opened on Jan. 6, 2020, and will host an official Grand Opening for the public on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m.

Our New Year’s resolutions: Exercise more, swear less, and save lives.

That third resolution? Not a joke, and easier than you may think. DYK one blood donation has the power to save up to three local lives? It’s quick + easy, and you can donate every 56 days. That’s six times a year, a.k.a. 18 potential lives saved.

The Blood Connection (TBC) – which has hosted many mobile drives in the Charleston area since April – will be opening its first CHS donation center this January at 5780 Core Ave. in North Charleston. At a center, donors can give more types of donations, like plasma, platelets + red blood cells. It’s also a more relaxed, spacious, almost spa-like environment for the donor compared to a bus. TBC can serve 10 donors per hour, for both whole blood donations + apheresis (platelets or plasma donations) so there’s pretty much no wait.

The newly-renovated 15,000-sqft. donation center will have a donor room with a registration area, screening rooms + refreshment area (hey, free snacks), all equipped with brand new equipment and furniture. The center will also have a blood distribution hub + reference lab, allowing TBC to distribute blood donations more efficiently to its hospital partners in the CHS area, like Roper St. Francis Healthcare, to which TBC began supplying blood at the beginning of 2019. That means when you give with TBC, you’re helping your Charleston neighbors.

Rendering of The Blood Connection’s new 15,000-sqft. Charleston center | Image provided

The new center will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on weekdays + 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends, and while walk-ins are welcome, donors are encouraged to make their appointments to give online (which also means a more convenient, quicker donor experience).

Want to donate before January? All Charleston-area mobile drives are listed here.

Here's a sneak peek of the inside of the center, opening next month:

Waiting room in The Blood Connection’s new center | Photo by CHStoday

Donor chairs in The Blood Connection’s new center | Photo by CHStoday

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