BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Worried by recent emergency blood-donation appeals, Cincinnati business leaders called Tuesday on local corporations to double their support for the Hoxworth Blood Center.
"There is no substitute for a good, safe blood supply," said Robert Morgan, chief executive of Cincinnati Financial Corp. and chairman of the 1998 Hoxworth Business Campaign. "We are fortunate to live in a city with outstanding community support from area businesses. But we need to do more."
On June 2, Hoxworth called its second emergency blood appeal in six months. The emergency was called because inventories that should be near 2,200 units every day had dwindled as low as 450 units.
The immediate crisis passed when more than 2,500 people responded to the emergency appeal. But Hoxworth still faces the problem of depending on out-of-town blood supplies.
That's where the corporate blood drives come in.
Until now, the average corporate blood drive has attracted about 3 percent of employees. On Tuesday, over lunch at the Queen City Club, 20 Tristate employers promised to sharply expand participation -- to 10 percent, 20 percent, even 55 percent or more.
Kroger, Midland Co., Ohio National Life and Union Central Life were among the companies pledging to get 20 percent of their workers to give blood in 1998.
Citicorp Credit Services pledged 55 percent participation. Ethicon Endo-Surgery in Blue Ash committed to four blood drives in 1998 with a pledge of 100 percent participation.
Recently, corporate blood drives have accounted for about 20 percent of total donations to Hoxworth. Mr. Morgan said the figure should be closer to 40 percent.
Hoxworth gets about half its blood from individuals -- often regular donors -- who give at neighborhood blood centers. The rest comes from corporate drives, colleges, high schools, churches and other organizations.
Why have corporate blood drives been slow? It hasn't been a high priority.
"Everybody's out there just trying to do business," Mr. Morgan said. "They view (blood drives) as another charitable endeavor. It gets lost with the United Way, the Fine Arts Fund and all the others. But this is more than just another charitable endeavor."
Companies need to do more than simply allow Hoxworth to conduct a blood drive on-site. Top executives need to promote them, Mr. Morgan said.
"We give away prizes and merchandise," he said. "We sell it."
Hoxworth needs 300 units a day, every day, to meet demand. For information on how to donate blood, call Hoxworth at 451-0910.
