Dunkin' Donuts Teams Up with American Red Cross to Celebrate Blood Donor Month at Patriot Place

Nearly 100 people joined Dunkin’ Donuts and the American Red Cross at Patriot Place on Jan. 3 to celebrate Blood Donor Month by giving a pint of blood in exchange for a pound of coffee.

The American Red Cross was able to collect 63 units of blood during the “Give a Pint, Get a Pound” event inside the Patriot Place Activity Center, which will help save up to 189 lives, according to Donna M. Morrissey, Director of Communications for the American Red Cross Blood Services – Northeast Division.

“We are incredibly appreciative of Dunkin’ Donuts for its ongoing dedication to our lifesaving mission through the ‘Give a Pint, Get a Pound’ campaign, which helps the Red Cross raise awareness of the need for blood and continue to meet the daily needs of area hospital patients,” Morrissey said.

Frank Basler, Northeast operations director of Dunkin’ brands, said this is the sixth year Dunkin’ Donuts has teamed up with the Red Cross to celebrate Blood Donor Month through the “Give a Pint, Get a Pound” campaign.

“This is a chance for Dunkin’ brands to give back to the community by participating in the pint for a pound program,” Basler said. “We incentivize each blood donor during the month of January with a pound of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee so if you come down and donate a pint of blood [at one of these events] then you get a pound of coffee in return.”

There was extra incentive at the Jan. 3 event as donors were entered into a raffle for a chance to win one of five pairs of New England Patriots playoff tickets.

“[Winners] will be presented the [tickets] next Thursday [Jan. 10] at the Patriot Place Dunkin’ Donuts,” said Frank Barounis, Franchisee of three Foxborough Dunkin’ Donuts, including the one at Patriot Place. “I want to thank the Patriots cheerleaders and all the volunteers who have been working tremendously to put this [event] together. I appreciate their effort and giving time to support this great cause.”

Said Basler: “Five lucky people will win a set [of tickets] to watch the playoffs at Gillette Stadium. I’m sure it will be a great game and hopefully they’ll continue to win and play their way to the Super Bowl again.”

The in the AFC divisional round at Gillette Stadium. Kick-off is set for 4:30 p.m.

Patriots cheerleaders were joined by mascots of the Patriots, Dunkin’ Donuts and American Red Cross as well as the Mix 104.1 street team to engage with donors during the event.

“It’s great to have Mix 104.1,” Basler said. “They’re always fun and add a lot of life to the party.”

In five years of Dunkin’ Donuts’ partnership with the Red Cross, the campaign has donated over 500,000 pounds of coffee to blood donors, according to Basler and the Red Cross has collected enough units of blood to help about 1.6 million people.

“It is huge,” Basler said. “It is a phenomenal program and we’ve had a lot of fun.”

It’s also been very important for Basler and the Red Cross to raise awareness about the need for blood donations.

“I’ve met many people through this program that would not be here if it were not for a blood donation,” Basler said. “Educating people on how important it is to give about an hour of their time to literally save somebody’s life is huge. I feel very passionate about it. I’m a regular blood donor because it’s just so important.”

Barounis said Dunkin’ Donuts and the American Red Cross will hold another blood drive at the Patriot Place Dunkin’ Donuts on Jan. 31 – the last day of Blood Donor Month.