In the early days of the pandemic, alarmed by the cancellation of corporate blood drives, Lowertown resident Bill Hanley got together with like-minded community volunteers and organized a Red Cross drive of his own at the downtown St. Paul Union Depot.

Inspired, he organized another at the same location a few weeks later, and then another and another.

On Thursday, Hanley will help oversee his 50th “Skyway Blood Drive” at the transportation hub off Kellogg Boulevard, better known as the home of Amtrak and a nexus for intercity coach buses like Greyhound. At a time when blood donations nationally have fallen to a 20-year low, his effort has been a mainstay. He learned from a career in public television that building up habits — like regularly-scheduled news programming — is key.

“We’ve done it every month since COVID began — it’s the third Thursday of every month,” Hanley said.

To mark the 50th drive, Hanley secured donor incentives from the St. Paul Saints, Minnesota Chamber Orchestra and Padelford Riverboats. Every donor at the Union Depot on Thursday will walk away with a free pair of orchestra tickets. First-time donors to the Skyway Blood Drive will get Saints tickets. And there are 10 pairs of Mississippi River cruise tickets in the mix.

“We’re trying to incentivize new donors,” said Hanley, the former news director for Twin Cities Public Television, noting that a surge in blood donations during the pandemic is now a trickle.

In January, the American Red Cross declared a national emergency due to blood shortages. They’re experiencing the lowest number of people giving blood in the last 20 years — a 40% decline over two decades. Among the factors, blood drives at corporations have become harder to pull off in the days of remote work, while safety protocols — such as raising the minimum hemoglobin thresholds — have tightened, making it harder to get donors ages 16-18.

If there’s been a silver lining for Hanley, it’s the outpouring of support from downtown businesses, workers and residents. Securian Financial has sent volunteers to help staff the blood drives, and Hanley called the historic Union Depot an excellent host that no longer charges him a fee to use the space. “I went to them and said, tell me again why a Ramsey County facility is charging the Red Cross anything?” he said. “And they dropped it.”

Thursday’s event is almost fully booked, Hanley said, but anyone interested in signing up for a future Skyway Blood Drive can visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment.

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