Eagles to Host 2nd Annual American Red Cross Training Camp Blood Drive

On Saturday, August 8, 2009, The Philadelphia Eagles will team up with the American Red Cross to host the 2nd annual Eagles Training Camp blood drive.

The blood drive is scheduled to run from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Stabler Arena located on the campus of Lehigh University.

It is an unfortunate reality that blood donations decline in the summer due to vacations, holidays and the absence of high school and college blood drives. The Eagles hope their fans can contribute 1,200 units of blood to offset these factors and help the Red Cross maintain a stable blood supply.

As a special thank you, everyone who makes and keeps an appointment to donate will receive a gift bag filled with great Eagles gear! Twenty-five lucky donors will win a pair of V.I.P. field passes for that day's morning training session and 6 donors will each win a pair of tickets to an Eagles home game!

"We are honored to partner with the American Red Cross. We encourage our fans to join us for what has become our annual training camp blood drive here at Lehigh University and help the American Red Cross," said Eagles President Joe Banner.

"We thank the Eagles for helping to save lives in the community, and hope to turn many fans into life-saving blood donors," said Brigid O'Neill-LaGier, Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross Penn-Jersey Blood Services Region. "The upcoming blood drive (August 8th) is vitally important to build a supply of blood that will help safeguard against a summer blood shortage."

The Blood Drive is part of the Eagles Health and Safety Day activities taking place from 7-11 a.m. at the Interactive Kids Area. Presented by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Health and Safety Day will feature important information and interactive displays on fire prevention and police safety with the Bethlehem Fire and Police Departments, as well as healthy living information for adults and children, face painting, inflatable games, family pictures, massages, balloon art, and much more! For more Health and Safety Day information, visit the Training Camp section of PhiladelphiaEagles.com.

Most healthy people who are at least 17 years old and weigh 110 pounds or more are eligible to donate blood every 56 days. Sixteen year olds can donate blood with parental consent.

Everyone interested must make a blood donation appointment by visiting pleasegiveblood.org or calling 1-800-GIVE LIFE. A limited number of appointments are available, so make yours today!