Cut a slice of King Cake and get ready for Mardi Gras! Galveston! After donating blood and saving lives, you deserve a day filled with celebration. For supporting patients in local hospitals, donors who give blood from January 30 – February 6, 2023, will be thanked with a general admission ticket to Mardi Gras! Galveston.

Let’s make a difference and save lives in our community! From February 1-28, 2023, Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center offers our donors a sincere thank you and a special pullover for donating blood and saving lives. 

One hour of your time changes everything for patients, families, and communities. It takes one hour to give blood. And one blood donation saves many lives. There are 168 hours a week. Taking one of those hours to donate blood can change someone's world. 

The long-awaited change is near! Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is reviewing the new proposal from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that could ease restrictions on gay and bisexual men as blood donors. The FDA’s proposal to move to an assessment of sexual behavior of individuals, regardless of gender, will maintain the safety of our nation’s blood supply while treating all donors with the fairness, equality, and respect they deserve.

The proposed draft guidance is only the first step in a lengthy process of welcoming some new individuals as blood donors. The entire process will take time, including the public comment period, publication of the final guidance, and blood center implementation of the changes. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is committed to moving this change along as quickly as the process allows. We understand many people have waited a very long time for this change, and we look forward to welcoming new donors in as soon as possible!