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Saying thanks goes a long way!
Blood, plasma and platelets can’t be manufactured. They can only be donated by generous people who want to help preserve, enhance and save the lives of total strangers. Imagine having the opportunity to thank the person (or people) whose donation(s) helped you or your loved one in a time of need.
Now you can.
Through the Thank the Donor® program, blood recipients in the Ozarks and their loved ones can send an anonymous, one-way message to their actual donors via email. These messages of appreciation help Community Blood Center of the Ozarks donors understand the impact their gifts had on the community.
Whether you’re a blood donor or recipient, using the Thank the Donor® program is easy!
How does it work?
For Blood Donors
DONATE
Blood, plasma or platelets to CBCO when eligible.
UPDATE
Your email address and contact preferences at the donor center/blood drive.
RECEIVE
Note(s) of gratitude* from the person — or people — who received your donation.
For Blood Recipients
FOLLOW
The on-screen instructions for how to write your note.
SEND
The thank-you message anonymously. You can even attach a photo, if you choose!
*Use of the Thank the Donor® tool is entirely VOLUNTARY. Community Blood Center of the Ozarks works closely with local hospitals to encourage patients and their loved ones to send messages to blood donors. However, donors will only receive a thank-you email from a blood recipient/loved one if the recipient/loved one chooses to send one.
No contact information or identifying patient information will be shared between the blood recipient and/or sender of the message and the blood donor.
Real notes of gratitude
“Thank you for the gift of life for my husband. He requires a blood transfusion every three weeks, on average, to keep him alive. You will never know how much this means to me, my husband, our family of six kids and ten grandchildren. THANK YOU is never enough, but I hope you know how much YOU are appreciated!!!”
“My son is 4 years old and has aplastic anemia. He depends on local blood donors every week and I just want to thank you personally for saving his life! You are truly amazing for taking the time to donate blood for kids like him!! Thank you!!“
“These platelets will help keep my father safe for the coming week. He’s been treated for cancer for the last four years and he’s become very dependent on transfusions. I see your donation as directly contributing to prolonging the time I have left with my dad, so I can’t thank you enough.“
“Thank you so, so, so much for your donation. There are not enough words to tell you how grateful I am. My stepdad is in critical condition in the hospital suffering from an autoimmune attack and your donation has helped in saving his life. Maybe you’re a college student who did this on a whim or maybe you’re someone who donates all the time. I just wanted to let you know that your donation really did make a difference and really did save a life. I will forever be grateful.“
“Thank you so much for donating blood just for me! I’m suffering with prostate cancer and my hemoglobin suddenly dropped very low and I became very ill. Soon after the blood transfusion, I began feeling much better. You saved my life. I really appreciate you!“
“Thank you so much for your blood donation. I’m a 33-year-old mother and wife with iron anemia that plummeted even more after a bariatric surgery. My levels were critical and you helped save me. I am forever grateful that you are a reason I’m still here for my family.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is prohibited by law to share any contact information between blood donors and blood recipients. No contact information or identifying patient information will be shared between the blood recipient and/or sender of the message and the blood donor.
All messages sent through the Thank the Donor® website are received by Community Blood Center of the Ozarks and vetted prior to being forwarded by Community Blood Center of the Ozarks to the blood donor. The sender of the message DOES NOT have access to the email address, or any other contact information, related to the blood donor. The blood donor receiving the message DOES NOT have access to the email address, or any other contact information, related to the blood recipient and/or sender of the message.
NOTE: Messages will only be forwarded to blood donors via email. Messages sent to blood donors through the Thank the Donor® website will only be forwarded to blood donors who have current email addresses in the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks database. If a blood donor has unsubscribed from the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks email service, they will not receive any messages sent through the Thank the Donor® website. If a blood donor does not wish to receive any messages sent through the Thank the Donor® website, they can click the “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom of any Community Blood Center of the Ozarks email, or they can contact Community Blood Center of the Ozarks at 1-800-280-5337 and request to be placed on the Do Not Email list.
The Thank the Donor® program is a tool that allows blood product recipients, their family, or friends to send one-way, anonymous, thank you messages to the actual person or persons who donated the blood products received.
They didn’t. Neither the blood recipient, nor anyone else, who wrote you the Thank You message has your email address, or any other direct personal information about you.
On every unit of blood product we send to a hospital there is something called a Donor Identification Number, or DIN. The DIN is a federally-required label that allows hospitals and blood banks to know exactly where a blood donation came from. It is a 13-digit code that contains no other identifying donor information. Using the DIN, and an online tool called Thank the Donor®, the recipient of your blood was able to send a thank you email to Community Blood Center of the Ozarks – not directly to you. We have staff members who receive incoming thank you emails from blood recipients. Our staff members have secure access to the CBCO donor database, and use the DIN to find the name and email address of the donor who provided the blood product that help saved the recipient’s life. Our staff forward the messages on to the appropriate donors. The person who sent the thank you email will receive NO information about the person who donated the blood.
No. All thank you emails sent from blood recipients come directly to Community Blood Center of the Ozarks. One of our staff uses our secure database to identify the blood donor and their email address, and then our staff member sends the thank you email to the donor. The person who sent the thank you email will receive NO information about the person who donated the blood.
The blood recipient could send you another message using our Thank the Donor® program – the same way they sent the first message. But all thank you emails sent from blood recipients come directly to Community Blood Center of the Ozarks. One of our staff uses our secure database to identify the blood donor and their email address, and then our staff member sends the thank you email to the donor. You will never receive an email directly from the person who received your blood.
No. Federal Privacy Laws prevent us from sharing any distinct identifying information about either blood recipients or blood donors.
The sending of thank you emails is a purely voluntary act on the part of a blood recipient, their friends, or their family members. CBCO has no control over who decides to send a thank you email and who does not. But the more you donate, the greater the chance your blood will be used by someone who will want to send a thank you email.
No. The sending of thank you emails is a purely voluntary act on the part of a blood recipient, their friends, or their family members. CBCO has no control over who decides to send a thank you email and who does not. But the more you donate, the greater the chance your blood will be used by someone who will want to send a thank you email.
No. The Thank the Donor® program was created by Our Blood Institute based in Oklahoma City. CBCO is licensing the right to use the program from them.
CBCO launched the Thank the Donor® program in June 2019.