Blood donation nonprofit LifeSouth opens donation center in Tifton
Published 3:49 pm Monday, April 14, 2025
For the ribbon cutting to celebrate the grand opening of the new community donation center, the staff of LifeSouth and the members of the local chamber of commerce were joined by Smiley, LifeSouth's mascot and a regular participant in the nonprofit's events.
LifeSouth provides members of the local community the opportunity to donate blood in service of local hospitals and medical centers, offering gifts and merchandise as an extra incentive. During the month of April, donors are expected to receive a LifeSouth umbrella as thanks for their donation.
A LifeSouth blood bus was on site during the new center's grand opening, stopping in from another region of LifeSouth's coverage. Regional manager Carol Ramirez expressed a hope that the new Tifton branch would have its own blood bus within the year.
TIFTON — The city of Tifton is now equipped with its very own blood donation center, courtesy of nonprofit blood bank LifeSouth.
Local residents interested in giving back to their community via blood drawing can now do so at the newest LifeSouth community blood center in Tifton, which opened its doors the afternoon of April 10.
Focusing on receiving blood from local donors and returning it to facilities in the community that need it, LifeSouth offers blood donation services throughout the southeastern U.S. in the form of brick and mortar blood centers and more mobile blood buses, which have often made trips to the Tiftarea in the past.
Carol Ramirez, regional manager for LifeSouth, reported that the nonprofit’s buses had been visiting the local community for around six years, collaborating with local organizations and venues like Goodwill and the Tifton Mall to host blood drives.
She noted that the donation center would aim to fill a need in the community, as she noted that the Valdosta LifeSouth center often received donors from the Tiftarea interested in donating blood, and expressed her excitement that, with the new physical location, LifeSouth would be able to work more closely with the Tifton community moving forward.
“This is a very generous community when it comes to blood donations,” Ramirez said. “We really are very appreciative of the community, so I’m super excited to be able to have someplace local that they can come into.”
Ramirez explained that the blood collected by the Tifton center will be going to South Georgia Medical Center, but she was working on a contract with more local facilities such as Southwell. She also hoped to have a blood bus stationed at the center within the year, so as to expand their range of service even further.
LifeSouth’s Tifton donation center is located at 1904 U.S Highway 82, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, contact (888)795-2707 or visit LifeSouth’s Donor Portal at donors.lifesouth.org.
