Give blood, play rugby! We have all seen or heard this expression before. Rugby players are no stranger to blood; high impact collisions and turf burn have made most of us bleed. Now, in this time of need for the area, country, and world, many blood drives have been canceled. It’s time to give the expression "Give blood, play rugby" a new meaning and band together to do our part to help maintain the local blood supply.

While local Red Cross chapters are not sponsoring blood drives for nonprofits, they have encouraged us to start a virtual drive. NOVA Women and NOVA Men’s Rugby Clubs are joining forces; together we can maximize our impact from this campaign. Anyone can participate (you don’t have to be in one of the clubs!), so please share this information with friends and family who may be interested in pledging and completing a donation.

Here’s how it works: through our page, you pledge to make and keep an appointment to donate with the American Red Cross and share pictures of your donation with our hashtag, #novadonates.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Cross is having to maintain the blood supply with fewer centralized drives. This means that it might be difficult to find open appointments, but please do not give up. The donations are still very necessary! We have been advised to search few weeks out for the most success finding available appointments.

Push those SleevesUp and help us reach our goal of 50 donations by the end of July!