The World Blood Drive was organized by Star Wars fans to help blood centers promote voluntary unpaid blood donations, and to inspire children to become blood donors when they are old enough.
The World Blood Drive was inspired by World Blood Donor Day, an annual international event that serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. Established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004, World Blood Donor Day is observed on June 14, the birthday of Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943), the Austrian biologist and physician who developed the modern system of classification of blood groups, which is still used today to ensure the safety of blood transfusions.
On June 14, 2014, the eleventh annual World Blood Donor Day and the first World Blood Drive coincided on the same date. Star Wars fans in over 25 countries participated in the event. Because Saturdays are generally more practical for arranging events with members of Star Wars costuming organizations, and because the beginning of summer is often a challenging time for blood centers to collect donations, annual international World Blood Drive events will henceforth be scheduled for the second Saturday of June.
The World Blood Drive is not sponsored nor does it have any relationship with Disney Co., Lucasfilm Ltd. Star Wars, its characters, costumes, and all associated items are the intellectual property of Lucasfilm. ©2015 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™ All rights reserved.
*Used under authorization.