Granite Bay man celebrated for 1,900th blood donation!

A Granite Bay man is being celebrated for making 1,900 blood donations over the course of his life! Yes, you read that right: 1,900 donations. According to Vitalant, a national blood supplier, that's the highest number they have on record. Bill Slater made his 1,900th donation on Aug. 14 at the Vitalant Blood Donation center in Granite Bay. Slater is proud to hold this record, but he said in reality, he has made far more than 1,900 donations. Donations weren't recorded electronically until 1989. Slater estimates he has made far more than 2,000 since he began making donations in 1974, when he was 18 years old. "If you take a 50-gallon drum, I've filled up four of them!" declared Slater. Slater joined the military at age 17 and was stationed at McClellan Air Force Base. He explained they had weekly blood drives and if he opted to make a donation, he was given four hours off. Slater, realizing it was a great chance to get his weekend started earlier, scheduled his donations weekly on Friday afternoons. "I was first donating whole blood, then I went to donating both platelets and plasma, which I was doing twice a week," said Slater. "Then I changed to once a week and now, since they're keeping an eye on my iron counts, I do it once every two weeks." What began as a way to elongate his weekend quickly turned into a sense of purpose that has lasted throughout his life. Slater said donating blood for the past 50 years is his way of "paying it forward," and he especially likes the fact his donations are helping cancer patients and children in places like Shriners Hospital. "I just feel like I have time to spare and there are people out there who can really use the help," explained Slater. "Blood doesn't last forever. Platelets only last so many days, blood only lasts so many days and there's always a shortage and I just feel that this is something I can do, and it doesn't cost me anything and I can pay it forward." Slater, 70, has no plans on slowing down with his blood donations. He has a long-term goal of 3,000 before he's done and hopes his story inspires others to do the same. "If I can make it another 10 years, I'll do it," said Slater. "I'm already booked out for the rest of the year, once every two weeks." If you would like to make a blood donation or find out how you can do so, you can contact Vitalant at https://donors.vitalant.org/dwp/portal/dwa.