It was pumpkin spice and everything nice for the winners of our Pumpkin Spice Giveaway. Five amazing donors each won a $5,000 gift card in the giveaway, which ran from Sept. 5 through Oct. 5.
There were 100,025 donors who qualified for the contest, and each one was a winner in our eyes for saving lives. The five donors whose names were randomly drawn were awarded electronic gift cards. They could spend the entirety of the gift card prize all in one place or spread it out among about 200 different retailers, airlines, restaurants and more. Whether it was an endless supply of pumpkin spice lattes or new fall fashions, each winner could decide.
Bryan V. from Indiana is our first gift card winner. Bryan gave his winning whole blood donation at his workplace blood drive. He has two lifetime donations with Vitalant, and we can’t wait to watch that number grow!
When Bryan learned he had won $5,000, he felt incredibly grateful and relieved. “I was just trying to piece 
together how to pay my bills for the next couple of months!”
Bryan started giving blood after a personal experience requiring a transfusion during emergency surgery. It was then that he realized how important it was for hospitals to have access to donated blood.
“What motivates me to keep giving blood is the thought that somebody out there may be in need. Some people donate money, but I feel good donating what can potentially save a life. It doesn’t set you back and you could save a life, so there’s no reason not to do it!”
Our second gift card winner is Richard C. from Pennsylvania. He started giving blood in college and has donated a total of 67 times with Vitalant. His qualifying donation was a Power Red donation.
“I was greatly influenced by my father who donated an untold number of gallons in his life,” says Richard. “I did have a pause when I worked for a global humanitarian organization which sent me to countries on the ‘no donations allowed’ list. I was very glad to get back into donating when my time there was finished.”
At the location where Richard gives blood, there is a sign on the wall that reads “There is No Substitute for Human Blood.” That fact left an imprint on Richard’s mind.
“We live in a time when space travel is so common it does not make the news—and medical and technological breakthroughs have been amazing — yet if someone needs a blood transfusion it must come from another person. Thank you, Vitalant, for the great work you do through amazing medical personnel.”
Alyson M. of Texas is our third gift card winner. Alyson had two donations which qualified her for this giveaway — a platelet donation in September and a platelet/plasma combination donation in October. Overall, Alyson has 68 lifetime donations.
There must be something lucky in the air in Texas, because that’s where our fourth gift card winner, Sandra A., also is from. She has given 34 donations with Vitalant thus far, and her winning whole blood donation took place in October.
Arizona resident Teri D. is our fifth gift card winner. Teri’s qualifying whole blood donation occurred in September at a community drive. She remembers reading about the giveaway in a Vitalant email but didn’t go into the drive expecting to win.
Teri donated for the first time at a high school blood drive with her friends. Despite having a good experience, she says she didn’t donate again until after college. The good news is that she kept donating! She has donated at blood drives at work and community drives. With Vitalant alone, Teri has donated 14 times.
“I am thankful for my health, and this is a way to pay it forward,” shares Teri. “My advice to others is to be grateful that your health allows you to share blood with someone who needs it — and add being a blood donor to your gratitude to-do list!”
We are certainly grateful for everyone who gave blood during the Pumpkin Spice Giveaway. Thank you, donors!