Give a Pint, Get a Free Firehouse Subs Sandwich While Donating In New Bloodmobile March 15

Donating blood saves lives. Donating blood is cool. Donating blood is super cool when you get a free Firehouse Subs sandwich in return for making your donation in the brand new Vitalant Bloodmobile.

The Rosemont-based blood center will unveil its new mobile blood collection unit during blood drive festivities on Friday, March 15, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Vitalant-Illinois (formerly LifeSource) headquarters, 5505 Pearl Street in Rosemont.

All participating donors will receive a pair of limited-edition Vitalant socks, a specially-designed

St. Patrick's Day blood donor-themed T-shirt, and voucher for a free sandwich courtesy of Firehouse Subs.

To schedule an appointment, visit vitalant.org, log in, scroll down to search by Group Code LSBD or call (877) 258-4825. In preparation for their donation, donors are asked to eat well, stay hydrated and arrive with proper identification. The donation appointment takes about an hour (with the donation itself only around ten minutes) and is both safe and comfortable.

It takes about 2.5 days to process, test, prepare and ship blood once it's donated, and it is the blood already on hospital shelves that save lives. At least 400 donations are needed each day to meet the needs of people throughout the Chicagoland area.

About Vitalant

Vitalant is the nation's second largest community blood service provider, supplying comprehensive transfusion medicine services for nearly 1,000 hospitals and health care partners for patients in need across 40 states. In the Chicagoland area, Vitalant (formerly LifeSource) has 17 donation centers, four fixed sites, and hosts an average of six blood drives every day. View all donation locations by visiting vitalant.org or call (877) 258-4825. Follow Vitalant-Illinois on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.