To increase the Asian and Pacific Islander blood donor pool and make sure that all patients can receive the blood they need, the Kin On Community Health Care and the Puget Sound Blood Center began organizing semi-annual blood drives since 2001 as a tribute to Kirby Wong, a 44-year-old Seattle man who required more than 500 units of blood while waiting for a heart transplant.

More than seven percent of the community donates blood on a regular basis, a number well above average.

However, for people of color, that number is less than one percent. 

The Puget Sound Blood Center has a deficit in the community of racially diverse blood donors which means that people of color may have severe difficulties in finding antigen-matched blood for them.

The Rare Blood Donor Program, funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, works to raise the number of blood donations by ethnically diverse populations.

More information is available by contacting Heidi Wong, Fund Development Coordinator at

Kin On Health Care Center, 206-721-3630.