Please join us for the 44th Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive July 22 - August 16, 2020.
Comic-Con’s Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive returns for its 44th year in 2020 with a 26-day blood drive for Comic-Con@home.
We are San Diego Blood Bank’s largest and longest-running blood drive. Last year we collected 3,343 pints of blood over our 5-day convention, our biggest year ever.
The growth of our blood drive over the years has been absolutely phenomenal. The Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive began at San Diego Comic-Con back in 1977. That first year, 148 pints of blood were collected, and as the convention has grown, so has our blood drive.
Over the past 43 years 25,950 pints of blood have been donated by Comic-Con attendees, exhibitors, pros, volunteers, and staff! San Diego Blood Bank estimates that your donations have impacted more than 75 thousand lives over the course of our 43 years!!
America’s Blood Centers selected our Robert A Heinlein Blood Drive for their 2016 Outstanding Blood Drive of the Year award.
Please join us for the 44th Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive July 22nd through August 16th. Your donations are desperately needed.
This year blood donors will receive a limited-edition Marvel Black Widow tee shirt for donating on the dates of our online show.
Visit www.sandiegobloodbank.org/donate or call (619) 400-8251. Only a limited number of appointments are available!
Comic-Con’s group code: CCON
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Carmel Valley Donor Center East County Donor Center North County Donor Center |
Coastal Donor Center Gateway Donor Center Sabre Springs Donor Center |
A Brief History of Comic-Con International's Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive
For science fiction fans, few names were as stellar as Robert A. Heinlein. From Star Ship Troopers to Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein was the dean of SF writers. Unfortunately, he rarely attended conventions, so his readers had few opportunities to meet the master in person.
Then in the early 1970s, Heinlein had a life-threatening illness and needed many pints of a rare blood type. He felt he owed his life to the donors, so when asked to be a guest at the 1976 World Con in his hometown of Kansas City, he agreed-but with one specific stipulation: that he would only sign autographs for people who donated blood.
Thus longtime Comic-Con committee member Jackie Estrada approached the author with an offer to hold a blood drive in San Diego if he would consent to being a guest. He agreed, and in 1977 Heinlein came to Comic-Con. He and his wife, Ginny, had a great time and Heinlein even drew a picture for the Sunday morning Art Auction.
"David Scroggy [who went onto be a VP at Dark Horse Comics before he retired] was the first blood drive coordinator," recalls Estrada. "We also had Theodore Sturgeon there signing his book, Some of Your Blood, which he gave to all of the blood donors. We also had entertainment for the people while they were [donating blood]. I remember that Leslie Cabarga played the piano, C. C. Beck played the guitar. It was a very fun event and Robert was delighted. We've had the blood drive every year since."