NORTH VENICE, FL – Goodwill Manasota and SunCoast Blood Bank officially launched a partnership effort, called “Change a Life, Save a Life,” to encourage donations of gently-used items and of critically-needed units of blood. Recently, the organizations brought both the Goodwill “Giving Mobile” and the SunCoast Blood Bank “Bloodmobile” to the campus of PGT Innovations in North Venice; employees were invited to donate from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
While this event was restricted to PGT employees only, select future events will be open to the public.
Goodwill president and CEO Bob Rosinsky, SunCoast Blood Bank CEO Scott Bush, and PGT Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Treasurer (and Goodwill Board Chair) Brad West – were in attendance; all three donated blood. The nonprofits’ mascots – Good Willy and Blood Buddy – were also on hand, cheering participants on.
PGT employees donated 45 units of life-saving blood and numerous bags and boxes full of donations for Goodwill.
“A positive advantage of this collaboration is that when you donate to Goodwill you are creating jobs immediately. When you donate to the Blood Bank, you have the opportunity to save three lives,” said Bob Rosinsky, president and CEO of Goodwill Manasota. “Through Change a Life, Save a Life, your donation is multiplied over and over, and helps others in this community.”
“We’re both very community-focused with our missions and the way we operate,” added SunCoast Blood Bank CEO Scott Bush. “Us working together only furthers that in our community while bringing awareness to both of our fine organizations.”
The partners will hold at least one “Change a Life, Save a Life” event each month, with scheduled outreach efforts taking place at Streets of Paradise in October and FCCI Insurance Group in November. They are seeking additional businesses and community areas to host donation events in the future.
PHOTO ID: (From l-r) ‘Blood Buddy,’ SunCoast Blood Bank CEO Scott Bush, PGT Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Treasurer Brad West, Goodwill President and CEO Bob Rosinsky, and ‘Good Willy’ during the ‘Change a Life, Save a Life’ launch at PGT Innovations
About Goodwill Manasota
Goodwill Manasota is an industry-leading 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that changes lives through the power of work. With philanthropic donations and revenue generated by the sales of donated goods, Goodwill is able to assist people with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and those with other barriers to employment by providing jobs, job skills training, and free career services. For more information or for a listing of locations, visit www.experiencegoodwill.org or call 941-355-2721.
SunCoast Blood Bank
SunCoast Blood Bank is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization providing a reliable supply of safe blood products and services to our community for 70 years. SunCoast provides 100 percent of the blood products and services for Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System, Manatee Memorial Hospital, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Complex Care Hospital of Ridgelake, Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Sarasota, North Port Emergency Room, Fawcett Memorial Hospital of Port Charlotte, Englewood Community Hospital and DeSoto Memorial Hospital. Recognized for its outstanding service, the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce honored SunCoast as the 2017 Non-profit of the Year. SunCoast participates in cancer treatment programs, research and provides therapeutic services at the hospitals it serves. For donor locations and more information, visit www.scbb.org or call 1-866-97-BLOOD.