Give a pint, receive a pint at Left Hand Brewing

Left Hand Brewing Company is partnering with Vitalant for a blood drive with a little something extra.

On June 23, the brewery is hosting the blood drive with Vitalant’s mobile donation van from 12- 3 p.m. Participants will receive a free pint card for the tasting room, to be used on their next visit.

“The mobile van will be parked across the street in our 1270 Boston Ave parking lot,” said Kristina Hernandez Schostak, communications manager for Left Hand Brewing Company. “People can come park near the bloodmobile, and we’ll have space roped off so they can get their orange juice and cookies afterward.”

“There were plans for a mobile blood drive at the tasting room before the COVID pandemic took hold in 2020,” Hernandez Schostak explained. “We were thrilled when Vitalant reached out to us. If this goes well, we’d like to make it a more frequent thing.”

“The Longmont community is fantastic,” said Colleen Sullivan, donor recruitment representative for Vitalant. “I’ve never had a problem filling a drive in Longmont. The people are always so willing to give and meet us wherever we’ve set up.”

According to the American Red Cross, less than 38 percent of the US population is eligible to give blood. The Red Cross estimates 6.8 million people each year donate blood or platelets, and one of those donations can potentially save up to three lives.

Blood drives have taken a hit during the pandemic, with concerns about public safety at the forefront. With social distancing, Sullivan said, they had a limited capacity of beds in the mobile donation van. Vitalant had to lean on partnerships with churches and meeting halls where they could have enough space for safe distancing. 

With vaccines available to most adults in the U.S. and restrictions beginning to lift, Vitalant is starting to get more active. Sullivan’s territory for organizing drives stretches from Colo. 7 to the Wyoming border, where she’s currently organizing 18 drives a month. Vitalant hosts nearly a hundred fifty blood drives each month in the Denver metro area alone.

“Left Hand has been such a great partner,” Sullivan said. “I’m always impressed by how much the brewery community gives back, from the staff to the customers."

Longmont locals interested in signing up for the blood drive can do so through Vitalant’s website.

“It’s the easiest way to save a life in just 20 minutes,” Hernandez Schostak said. “You can do some good and have a beer on us the next time you come to the tasting room.”