The 1,297th Worldwide Blood Drive to Give Life Through the Love of the Passover

Church of God, 2024 Mega Blood Drive at Shrine Auditorium (swrwmscog.org)

On April 28, 2024, the Church of God partnered with Lifestream Blood Bank to carry out the 1,297th Worldwide Mega Blood Drive to “Give Life Through the Love of the Passover.” The massive and groundbreaking event was held in LA’s iconic Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall to strive for 1,000 pints of donated blood. In the end, a record-breaking amount of blood donations were given, achieving a final count of 1,080 pints in one day!

The Shrine Auditorium, known for hosting historic events, such as the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, the Star Wars and Barbie movie premieres, and the filming of the original King Kong movie, was a fitting venue for the Church of God to make history. Since one pint of blood can save up to three lives, the Church of God members could provide enough blood to save up to 3,240 lives during this one-day event. The united efforts of the church members displayed through the blood drive did not go unnoticed, as local news outlet Fox 11 covered the blood drive during their evening broadcast.

The event was also memorable for being the 10th year of an ongoing partnership with LifeStream, which will supply the collected blood to 80 hospitals across Southern California.

Many VIP guests attended, such as doctors, company CEOs, presidents, athletes, and celebrities, eager to contribute to such an important cause. Furthermore, they mentioned that they were deeply impressed to see how orderly the event was, and were even more touched, seeing the physical distance and heartfelt lengths the members were willing to go through to serve.

Various activities were set up for guests of all ages, such as face painting, balloon animals, games, a photo booth, and tote bag printing. Beautiful live musical performances were presented throughout the day, with outdoor ensembles and astounding vocals from the Southwest region’s united choir and orchestra. The Church of God cheer team encouraged participants throughout the day, and youthful church members professionally presented information booths about the Church of God, such as ASEZ IUBA, STAR, IMBA, and IWBA. Such gracious details were all captured during a YouTube livestream, which was broadcast throughout the event.

• 00:00 Ensemble Introduction and Setup
• 01:00 Blood Donation Area
• 01:33 Doctors and Professors' Testimonials
• 03:55 Performances
• 04:38 We Love You!