FRESNO (KMJ) — The war-torn country of Ukraine is soon to receive its very first bloodmobile.
The vehicle itself is from the Central Valley, specifically the Central California Blood Center.
“We’ve been blessed,” explains CEO Dean Eller. “It’s a blessing to be able to pass this on to another country, a country that needs it desperately.
“What we take for granted, they’re going to consider it just a great prize.”
The bloodmobile has been serving the Central Valley for around 20 years.
“It doesn’t require special licensing…it will make a difference,” explains the group’s Leslie Botos.
She says it’ll help a country that desperately needs it.
“This one will allow the people in Ukraine to go to places that just don’t have a place to have blood drives.”
The bloodmobile has now left Fresno, destined for Texas, to be shipped out to Eastern-Europe.
“It’s too high to get in a container, so it’ll go open air from Galveston Texas across the Atlantic through the Black Sea to the port of Odessa,” explains Botos. “Then it’ll be trucked from Odessa up to Bilozirka which is just south of Kiev the capital of Ukraine.”
Listen to the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
