Blood drive at Mestalla brings in close to 500 donations | OneFootball

Mestalla once again hosted a special blood drive this week, the result of a collaboration between Valencia CF -through the VCF Foundation- and the Centro de Transfusión de la Comunitat Valenciana regional transfusion centre.Nearly 500 people donated blood in the VIP Box at Mestalla  on Thursday morning, in what was a tremendous show of solidarity.In return, each donor received two free tickets to the 54th Trofeu Taronja game, which will be played this Saturday, August 8th, against Newcastle United FC at Mestalla.The club and the transfusion centre have been collaborating since 2001, with 33 blood drives held at Mestalla. This has provided more than 16,000 donors, of whom approximately 5,000 were first-timers.The event at Mestalla was attended by the director of the VCF Foundation, Inma Ibáñez; Valencia CF ambassador Miguel Tendillo; the regional secretary of the Valencian Ministry of Health, Asunción Perales; the director of the Centro de Transfusión, Cristina Arbona; and the director of Nursing, Anabel Chulià.THE IMPORTANCE OF DONATING BLOODThe importance of donating blood lies in the fact that a single donation can save three lives, because red blood cells, platelets, and plasma are extracted.Furthermore, blood is a living tissue that expires, which is why the centre organises donation points daily throughout the region -and why the donation event at Mestalla is a special occasion.Every day, hospitals in Castellón, Valencia, and Alicante need a minimum of 700 units of blood.