ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 13, 2020 – The St. Louis Cardinals, Anheuser-Busch, FOX Sports Midwest and the American Red Cross have teamed up to host a blood drive at Busch Stadium on Tuesday, April 21. The American Red Cross has an ongoing critical need for blood and platelet donations. Donors of all blood types, especially type O, are urged to give now and help ensure blood products are available for patients this spring. Fans can register to donate at cardinals.com/blooddrive.

“We are proud to support our partners at the American Red Cross by opening up the Cardinals Club at Busch Stadium for a blood drive,” said Michael Hall, Vice President of Community Relations and Executive Director of Cardinals Care. “The vast space we have allows the Red Cross to set up a blood drive with appropriate social distancing guidelines in place at this time.”

“We could not be more grateful to the St. Louis Cardinals for all that they do to support the Red Cross,” said Mary Jane Thomsen, Executive Director for the Greater St. Louis Chapter. “We are especially grateful that our Cardinals are partnering with Anheuser-Busch and FOX Sports Midwest to provide their stadium space to host a blood drive this month. The units collected will greatly impact the blood supply, providing lifesaving transfusions to patients in need.”

The Red Cross has implemented new measures to ensure blood drives and donation centers are even safer for donors and staff, including:

•           Checking the temperature of staff and donors before entering a drive to make sure they are healthy.

•           Providing hand sanitizer for use before the drive, as well as throughout the donation process.

•           Spacing beds to follow social distancing practices between blood donors.

•           Increasing enhanced disinfecting of surfaces and equipment.

•           Staff wearing basic face masks.

At each blood drive and donation center, Red Cross employees already follow thorough safety protocols to help prevent the spread of any type of infection, including:

•           Wearing gloves and changing gloves with each donor.

•           Routinely wiping down donor-touched areas.

•           Using sterile collection sets for every donation.

•           Preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub.

Anheuser-Busch, a longtime corporate partner of the St. Louis Cardinals, has led the effort to identify available arenas and stadiums to be used for temporary blood drive centers. Last week, the company announced it would redirect sports and entertainment investments to its non-profit partners to respond to the COVID-19 public health crisis in addition to using its supply and logistics networks to begin producing and distributing bottles of hand sanitizer to accommodate the growing needs across the United States.

FOX Sports Midwest, the television home of the Cardinals, is also a partner in the effort. The network will air PSAs to bring awareness to the critical need for blood donors. The announcements, voiced by play-by-play announcer Dan McLaughlin, will help promote the blood drive and the need for blood donors during this unprecedented time of need.

Fans can also sign up for the 17th Annual Cardinals Blood Drive presented by Fox Sports Midwest in June. For more information visit cardinals.com/blooddrive.