Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Blood Drive

Robert Heinlein was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Writers," but he was much more. He was a philanthropist who helped many charitable causes and individuals. When asked how he could be repaid for his help, he would reply, "You can’t pay me back, you have to pay it forward."

One cause that was of great importance to him was blood donation. Having a rare blood type himself (AB+), he was a frequent donor and a supporter of the National Rare Blood Club, which was an integral part of his novel I Will Fear No Evil. In 1976, at the 34th World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City, he helped to organize the first of many science fiction convention blood drives.

On Friday, August 8, Denvention will host the Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Blood Drive, sponsored by the Heinlein Society. Bonfils Blood Center will be at Worldcon collecting blood donations from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The drive will be located at the Sheraton hotel in Tower Court D. We hope you will take a brief break from your other convention activities and come join us in saving lives, and have some cookies and juice while you’re at it. Each donor will receive a cloisonné pin that was designed by Mr. Heinlein for the first Worldcon blood drive in Kansas City as our way of saying, "Thank you for helping."

We hope you will join us in "paying it forward" by donating blood at Denvention.

How do I Schedule an Appointment Online for the Blood Drive?

It only takes a few minutes to create your donor account and enjoy enhanced features such as:

Viewing, scheduling, canceling and rescheduling appointments online
Managing your personal information such as address, contact information and contact preferences
Searching and mapping a donation location near you
Determining if your travels or medication affect your ability to donate

Follow these steps online at www.bonfils.org:

Click on New Account Registration (lower right corner)
Fill out the short information form. If you do not have your Donor ID handy, it will be filled after one business day. (The password can be something easy to remember.) Click on the Save button (lower middle of the screen).
Click on Find a Donation Location
Enter 6669 for the Site Code; for End Date, choose 8/8/08 on the calendar.
Click on any of the drive information and then Schedule Appointment.
Complete the Prescreening Questionnaire. Once you have answered all of the questions (and your eligibility has been verified), you will be taken to a list of appointment times and you can choose the time you prefer.