SAN JOSE, California – On Saturday, March, 2nd, the Sharks Foundation and the Stanford Blood Center are teaming up for the Annual “Save a Life” Blood Drive to collect blood products for patients in need. Blood donations can be given from 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM at the North Entrance of HP Pavilion at San Jose. Donate Life (organ donation) and Be The Match (marrow donation) will also be on hand to register interested donors. Fans donating blood or registering to be a donor will be invited to watch that morning’s pre-game skate of the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators. Additionally, donors will be entered into a raffle to win Sharks merchandise and autographed memorabilia.

To make a donation appointment, please call 888-723-7831 or register at the Stanford Blood Center website. In general, interested donors are eligible if at least 17 years old (or 16 with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds, in good health and have eaten prior to donating. For a full list of requirements, please see the Stanford Blood Center Eligibility web page.

The ‘Save A Life’ Blood Drive is the largest blood drive for the Stanford Blood Center each year. On average, this drive collects 300 units of blood which holds the potential to help 900 patients! Every person can make an impact!

Please note, only one guest per donor or marrow/life registrant is allowed. All event attendees must be 16 or older to enter HP Pavilion for this event.

ABOUT THE SHARKS FOUNDATION:

The Sharks Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the lives of youth and families in our community with an emphasis in the areas of Education, Health and Safety, and Character Development. The Sharks Foundation supplies emergency aid when appropriate, executes unique and relevant programming, supports the advancement of youth hockey and provides financial support and resources to organizations that enrich the lives of those in need. Although the San Jose Sharks and the Sharks Foundation support a variety of community programs on various levels, we feel that the key to the long-term well-being of our community is our youth.

The San Jose Sharks are as deeply involved with the neighborhood we live in as we are with the game that we play. As role models, we feel responsible to give back to the community that so strongly supports us. To this end, the Sharks Foundation was created in 1994 in an effort to increase our organizational impact on Santa Clara County. With the help of Sharks players, coaches and staff, the Sharks Foundation invests in the community with the hope of enhancing the lives of our youth. In addition to the original grant program, the Sharks Foundation manages educational programs, hosts major fundraisers, executes pledge programs and implements community outreach events. For more information, visit: http://www.thesharksfoundation.org/

ABOUT THE STANFORD BLOOD CENTER:

Stanford Medical School Blood Center was created within the Department of Pathology at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1978. The Blood Center was created to meet the increasingly large and complex transfusion needs of Stanford Hospital and Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and to perform research and teaching. In addition, the Blood Center now serves Palo Alto Medical Foundation Clinic, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, O'Connor Hospital in San Jose, Palo Alto V.A. Hospital, Livermore V.A. Hospital and three free-standing local surgery centers. In order to meet the needs of our community, more than 40,000 whole blood donations are need annually. For more information on the Stanford Blood Center, please visit http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu.