Congratulating the Indiana Blood Center on its 60^th Anniversary

On its sixtieth anniversary, I am proud to honor an organization that has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives through volunteer blood donations and blood component distribution to more than 60 hospitals across the state.

Indiana Blood Center was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in my district in Indianapolis.  This esteemed non-profit community service organization delivers more than 700 components of blood each day and provides other vital assistance to modern medicine through specialized blood typing for organ transplants, viral marker testing, transfusion recipients, and the National Marrow Donor Program.  The Center also serves as a vital link in the state’s life science and healthcare infrastructure in the areas of prostate cancer treatment, pharmaceutical research, stem cell and bone marrow donation.  It is the largest independent blood center in the state and ranks among the top 20 nationally.  Indiana Blood Center is a member of America’s Blood Centers, North America’s largest network of community-based, independent and non-profit blood centers – which, coincidentally, is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year.

Every two seconds, someone, somewhere will need a transfusion and one out of every seven patients entering a hospital will need blood.  Indiana Blood Center depends on the good people of Indiana and the nearly 4,000 organizations that host blood drives annually to meet the constant demand to serve the citizens of Indiana.  I would like to recognize this valuable contribution to our community and congratulate Indiana Blood Center for its 60 years of faithful and dedicated stewardship of Indiana’s blood supply.