Campaign by American Red Cross in partnership with Herbalife to increase awareness for much needed blood donations
In its ongoing support of the American Red Cross, and to help bring awareness for the need of blood donors, Herbalife Nutrition, a global nutrition company whose purpose is to make the world healthier and happier, announced its support for the American Red Cross #MissingType campaign.
From 11 June through 3 July, Herbalife Nutrition will join the Red Cross and other organisations, celebrities, and influencers to remove the letters representing the main blood groups—A, B and O—from its logo and public-facing messaging to illustrate the critical role blood donations play in patient care.
The company will also help raise awareness through its social media channels, and amongst its employees, independent distributors and customers.
“For more than 20-years, the company continues to proudly and actively support the American Red Cross with local, national and global disaster relief, emergency preparedness efforts, local events and blood drives, fostering a partnership built on the shared principles and values of helping others,” said Dr John Agwunobi, Co-President and Chief Health and Nutrition Officer at Herbalife Nutrition.
In addition to Dr Kristy Applehans, MS, NMD and Senior Director of Global Post-Market Medical Surveillance at Herbalife Nutrition serving as a member of the American Red Cross Los Angeles Regional Board of Directors, the company provides an annual US$500,000/£374,550 in-kind donation of Protein Deluxe Bars to 120 Red Cross blood donation service centres across the US.
The company’s independent distributors and employees generously also donate to support US and international relief efforts, most recently in support of Hurricane Harvey victims.
“We are so grateful that the health company has joined the Missing Types campaign to raise visibility for this critical need and to help ensure hospital patients receive lifesaving blood.
“We could not fulfil our mission without the tremendous support from volunteer blood donors and partners like Herbalife Nutrition. Together, we can reverse the trend before it is too late for the many patients who are counting on us,” said Neal Litvack, Chief Marketing Officer, Red Cross.
According to the Red Cross, every two seconds, someone in the US needs blood. However, for the past four years, new Red Cross donors have declined by about 80,000 each year. The blood donor base is shrinking, and more blood donors are needed now to fill the gaps. This is a challenge faced by blood collection organisations across the country and around the globe.
The company regularly hosts blood collection events at its offices, with four events scheduled in conjunction with the Missing Types campaign, as well as a virtual blood drive that directs employees, distributors and other donors, who are not able to attend one of the scheduled events, to a donation centre nearest to them.
Support for the American Red Cross and those they help extends beyond financial support with Herbalife Nutrition employees having participated in more than 50 blood drives held at Herbalife Innovation and Manufacturing facilities in Lake Forest and Winston Salem, Carson Distribution Center, Torrance and LA Live offices.
Results from these drives, combined with the donations collected on the Herbalife Nutrition bloodmobile that covers Southern California, could potentially save 25,000 lives.
