The gift of life: Community Blood Center opens new location in Lee’s Summit

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (KCTV) – There’s nearly a 40% decrease in kids and first-time blood donors according to the Community Blood Center, but that could improve with a new location in Lee’s Summit.

CBC is announcing the opening of its new state-of-the-art donor center at 1551 NE Douglas Street in Lee’s Summit.

“We’re trying to find ways to make blood donations and saving lives more convenient for people so we feel like we’ve planted ourselves right in the middle of a tremendously generous community,” said Patsy Shipley, CBC Greater Kansas City VP of Operations.

Beto Lopez, Mayor Pro Tem of Lee’s Summit, said, “We have a very welcoming and service-minded community and this is a great cause.”

The needles are clean and ready, the machines are up and running, and the people are excited about this chance to improve the amount of blood being donated.

The community blood center provides more than 90% of the blood used by Greater Kansas City metropolitan hospitals. It provides almost 200,000 blood products each year to 60 area hospitals – one of them being St. Luke’s East Hospital across the street.

“We have a reminder right across the street, a hospital that we serve, and it’s just part of life. People need to connect — if they go to the hospital to get treated with a transfusion, and where does that come from, it comes from the generous donors that come into our centers,” said Shipley.

Many school, corporate, and community blood drives were canceled due to safety restrictions with the pandemic. Now, with this new building, they hope to see people flooding in to give blood.

CBC will be joined by Mayor Pro Tem of Lee’s Summit Beto Lopez, Jackson County Legislator Megan Marshall, Jackson County Administrator Troy Schule, and representatives from Lee’s Summit partner organizations for a ribbon-cutting event and celebration Wednesday morning. CBC will also be welcoming several of the region’s top blood donors who will be making life-saving donations at the event.

“Hopefully this will continue to grow and have a good problem down the road, maybe have to find a larger facility for the community blood center in Lee’s Summit,” said Lopez.

“During the COVID-19, pandemic donor centers became the only location for CBC to collect blood, as many school, corporate, and community blood drives were canceled due to safety restrictions,” they wrote in a release. “Remote and blended work schedules resulted in fewer blood drives, and there has been a nearly 40% decrease in youth and first-time blood donors. This new donor center will help to combat the steep decrease in donations since the pandemic and improve the region’s blood supply.”

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