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Fulfilling the area blood needs

Amarillo, Texas - A non-profit organization in Amarillo has a new project to increase blood donations.

1 in 5 people entering the hospital are in need of blood, and Coffee Memorial wants to help.

Their current project is to get a new blood mobile. The one they have now is about ten years old and has seen better days.

The bus covers 31 counties and 29 medical facilities.

Joe McCormick from the Coffee Medical Blood Center says, "many of the locations that we have donors that are willing to give, whether it be a business or a community, they do not have a facility for us to set up and hold a blood drive. If we didn't have the bus we would simply lose those donors. And many of these locations are far away from the blood center."

Being a non profit organization, Coffee Memorial has to rely on donations. Charles walker chooses to donate his blood. He is the apheresis donor of the year, having donated for more than 5 years, including 23 times in 2011.

Walker says he's had such a blessed life that he's simply looking for a way to give back, and encourages others to do the same.