The New York Giants, New York Jets and MetLife Stadium are partnering with the New York Blood Center to host a blood drive on Thursday, August 20th. The drive will take place in the Toyota Club at MetLife Stadium from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. New York Blood Center hopes to collect nearly 200 units of blood from participating donors, enough to treat 600 patients in need.

Before COVID-19, mobile blood drives hosted by schools, organizations, and businesses made up around 75% of the region's incoming blood supply, but all drives had to be cancelled for several months. New York Blood Center began hosting a limited number of drives again this summer, however they are far from the number of drives per month needed to support area hospitals.

"The summer months are always difficult with families going on vacation and school being closed – this summer has been no exception, especially with COVID-19 keeping people inside and social distancing limiting the number of blood drives," said Andrea Cefarelli, Senior Executive Director Recruitment and Marketing. "We are so grateful to the New York Jets, New York Giants, and MetLife Stadium for hosting another blood drive this year. Their support and the support of our donors is crucial to keeping the blood supply stable at this difficult time."

Donating blood is safe and it only takes one hour. We are taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they're experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.

The drive will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 20th at MetLife Stadium (One MetLife Stadium Drive), East Rutherford, NJ. Donors should park in Lot F or G and enter at the MetLife Gate. The blood drive will be held in the Toyota Club. Appointments are preferred and walk-ins only available if spacing permits. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-933-2566 or sign up here.

About New York Blood Center: Founded in 1964, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is a nonprofit organization that is one of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the world. NYBC, along with its operating divisions Community Blood Center of Kansas City, Missouri (CBC), Innovative Blood Resources (IBR), Blood Bank of Delmarva (BBD), and Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC), collect approximately 4,000 units of blood products each day and serve local communities of more than 75 million people in the Tri-State area (NY, NJ, CT), Mid Atlantic area (PA, DE, MD, VA), Missouri and Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Southern New England. NYBC and its operating divisions also provide a wide array of transfusion-related medical services to over 500 hospitals nationally, including Comprehensive Cell Solutions, the National Center for Blood Group Genomics, the National Cord Blood Program, and the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, which — among other milestones — developed a practical screening method for hepatitis B as well as a safe, effective and affordable vaccine, and a patented solvent detergent plasma process innovating blood-purification technology worldwide.