CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If you’ve ever donated blood, you might have wondered who it went to and if it helped.

Now there’s a new program in the Coastal Bend that can connect you with the person who received your blood, or who’s blood you received.

Getting to save someone’s life can feel incredible. However, most recipients of blood or organ donations never get the chance to thank the person who helped them. But now a new initiative is helping change that.

The Coastal Bend Blood Center and Christus Spohn-Shoreline have teamed up to start the “Thank the Donor” program; the first ever here in the Coastal Bend area.

The program connects a blood donor with the person that received their blood. Or vice versa, it connects a patient with the person who saved their life by donating.

Each donor will receive an ID number that will be linked to a patient; giving them the option to reach out to one another.

“Family member or the patient can go online to ThankTheDonor.org and they can actually have preselected messages, or they can do a personalized message to thank the donor who donated that gift of life to them,” said Keerthana Ravindran.

Any messages sent are filtered by a curator to protect the privacy of anyone participating

Ravindran says the hospital transfuses about 800 units of blood every month.

“So, we rely on those volunteer donations by our community as well,” said Ravindran.

With the “Thank the Donor” program the hospital and blood center hope to bridge the connection between donors and the patients they help.

Christus Spohn-Shoreline will host their next blood drive on October 11th on the 3rd floor of the north tower.

See the original article on kztv10.com here