Local Sponsors & Partners

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

It doesn’t get much more Austin than the Alamo Drafthouse. Since they started in an old parking garage down at 4^th and Colorado in 1997, Austinites quickly picked up what the beer-and food-serving movie house was laying down, whether they’re showing first-run movies, having Quentin Tarantino show some of his personal movie collection, or screening Jaws to an audience floating in a lake. The Drafthouse now has 41 theaters across the US, but they still care a lot about their hometown, thanking donors with free movie passes every year. Just don’t talk or use your cell phone during the movie.

Amy’s Ice Creams

Austinites will remember the legendary days of seeing ice cream launched across four lanes of traffics on Guadalupe, into a cup on the other side. How amazing is the creamy goodness they’ve been producing since Amy Simmons opened up her first shop in 1984? For years, donors have looked forward to Amy’s thank-you to donors – a voucher for a free pint of cold, cold, creamy ice cream… in December. In addition, Amy’s employees come out in droves to their annual Phil Clay Memorial Blood Drive.

Arbor Car Wash

Who doesn’t like the feeling of a sparkling clean car? Arbor Car Wash has 4 convenient locations throughout the Austin area and has been keeping cars looking great since 1997. We are proud to have partnered up with Arbor Car Wash to provide thank you car washes to our donors during special times of the year. Arbor Car Wash operates their locations on solar energy and recycled water. Not only an Austin based business, but one that is making a difference!

Austin FC

Austin’s very own Major League Soccer team, Austin FC, has infused the Central Texas community with excitement and a team of our very own to root for. Located in the heart of Austin, the team and its fans are the heartbeat of the city. Quite literally during matches, complete with the beating drums and frenzied fans! Just as their logo shows, they have roots deep in the community Austin FC partners with We Are Blood for much needed blood drives coordinated with stadium tours. We are very proud to help “Grow the Legend”!

Austin’s Pizza

There is no science to their food. They just make some of the best pizza in Central Texas using only pure, whole ingredients. Toss in a huge heart for helping their local neighbors by offering thank you pizza vouchers to our donors and the combination is truly a great partnership…with extra cheese.

Blue Bell

Blue Bell Creameries has been a family-held creamery operated out of Brenham since 1907. For over 20 of those years, they’ve quietly delivered hundreds of pints of ice cream to We Are Blood for donors. Bonus: since this happens in August, and most people don’t have freezers in their cars, it’s fun to watch people take down entire pints of Blue Bell after donating…possibly the best brain freeze you will ever get.

Franklin BBQ

In honor of National Blood Donor Month in January, Franklin BBQ partners with We Are Blood to say a big thank you to blood donors. Lucky donors and their plus ones have been treated to a private Franklin BBQ dinner. No line, tons of brisket, and even more great company. Aaron Franklin also helped us get the word out by making a video promoting the event. Look for this partnership to continue into the future!

Plucker’s Wing Bar

This Austin born and bred restaurant started its history back in 1995 by two University of Texas students. They basically started the wing game here in Austin! If it’s game day, a weekend, after a night out…whenever…it is wing time! Now with locations across Texas and into Louisiana, they are still supporting our community by partnering during special times to provide donors with yummy wings as thanks for donating! Now the big question is…are you a wing or a drum type of person?

P Terry’s

It’s about time someone brought fresh, all-natural beef and chicken, fresh-cut fries from natural potatoes, and milkshakes, yummy milkshakes, all made in a clean kitchen, by folks taken care of by the business, to a burger drive-through. Actually, July 5, 2005, was about that time, when Kathy and Patrick Terry opened the first P. Terry’s burger stand not too far from Austin’s Barton Springs. Milkshakes, did we mention the milkshakes? P. Terry’s has thanked donors periodically with free milkshakes, and even free burgers.

Pinthouse Pizza

Quickly making their way to being an Austin beer & food icon is Pinthouse Pizza. In their first four years, they’ve garnered stacks on stacks on stacks of national awards, including taking the prize in our first two annual Beer Positive Brewery Challenge. Their Electric Jellyfish IPA is a local phenomenon! Rumor has it that at ACL Fest in 2019, the beer tent went through a keg every 24 minutes, on average. In addition to some of the best beer around, and great pizza at their three (soon to be four) locations, their motto is “doing good in the neighborhood,” and they’ve done a lot of good for We Are Blood and our donors, with fundraisers and free pizzas for donors every year over Thanksgiving week. We promise that it’s sheer luck that their Burnet and Round Rock locations are a stone’s throw of two of our donor centers.

Q2

Q2 isn’t just the name of the stadium where Austin FC calls home. Q2 is a financial experience company with a huge heart for giving back to the community it calls home. Their mission is to provide digital banking and lending solutions to banks, credit unions, alternative finance, and fintech companies in the U.S. and internationally. But it doesn’t stop there. The passion they have for helping their local community is felt by hosting large blood drives at Q2 stadium as well as at their headquarters.

Round Rock Express

It’s just right that Central Texas’ minor-league baseball team, the Round Rock Express, is named after the “Ryan Express”. The Texas-born Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, still the all-time leader in strikeouts. The Rangers affiliate holds seven division titles, three conference titles, and a league title, and a beloved piece of our sports culture. Nolan and his son, Reid, are two of the three owners, bringing a genuine family feel to the organization, which shows in their community involvement, including their support of We Are Blood, hosting groups of our donors for games and most recently the Express stepped up in a big way to host a blood drive during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is great to rely on neighbors like them. Look for our big, pretty sign in the concourse behind home plate when you get up for that hot dog

Rudy’s

Rudy’s is a legend across the nation! Showing ‘em how BBQ is done here in Texas. Born and raised just down the road in Leon Springs, TX, Rudy’s has grown with Central Texas, but they have never changed! We have loved our partnership with Rudy’s and offering our donors thank you BBQ vouchers and a chance to book appointments at mobile drives held right in front of Central Texas Rudy’s locations!

Schlotzsky’s

Raise your hand if you knew that Schlotzsky’s started right here in Austin, TX? That’s right! This iconic chain started in 1971 with a small shop on South Congress Ave with only one sandwich on their menu. Staying true to their roots, Schlotzsky’s partners with us to offer our donors several items off their menu as a thank you during special weeks.

Sinclair Cares: Roll Up Your Sleeves

CBS Austin and Sinclair Broadcasting Group have partnered with We Are Blood to get the word out to the community on the importance of blood donation with their special: Roll Up Your Sleeves Campaign! You’ll see the campaign advertised on CBS Austin throughout the month of July. We are so glad to have their help and the donors they bring in during the summer month of July each year.

St. David’s Foundation

The St. David’s Foundation is a longstanding member of the We Are Blood family. If you have been on one of our mobile blood donation buses or stepped into our main blood donation center, it’s because of St. David’s Foundation’s generosity. Their investments in the health of our community blood supply help us every single day in ensuring that all Central Texans have access to life-saving blood when they need it.

TacoDeli

In 2019, a large mobile drive fell through just days out, which would have caused a significant hit to our community’s blood donations. It just took an email, and TacoDeli said, “let’s do one at our Crestview location.”

If you’re donating at our Lamar location in the morning, there is really no reason you shouldn’t cross the street to get some delicious tacos (as well as salads that won’t make you sad about your lunch choices).

Thunderbird Food Bars

We love giving our donors a variety of choices of cookies, snacks, and drinks after their donation. When the amazing folks at Thunderbird Food Bars asked to partner with us, we were thrilled. Their food bars are all-natural with chunks of nuts, whole seeds, and pops of berries. Rarely does delicious and healthy go hand in hand, but this partnership accomplishes both.

Thundercloud Subs

Thundercloud has been serving up fresh, fast, and healthy sammiches, and putting their values to work for the community, since 1975. The most obvious is certainly the Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot. Held every Thanksgiving since 1991, the five-mile tradition now fills the streets with over 20,000 runners, and has raised over $3.8 million for Caritas of Austin, which supports people experiencing poverty and homelessness. For years now, they’ve thanked folks who show up to donate blood and platelets with a free sub. Try the Big Paul. Or the meatball sub. Or the Veggie Delite, with hummus. Okay, they’re all good.

Torchy’s

Another Austin taco legend since soon after it was born in a red trailer in 2006, Torchy’s steps up tacos into the creative and indulgent range, with things like their Fried Avocado taco, the option to make something “trashy” by adding their amazing queso, and their annual Some Like It Hot celebration of gastrointestinal scorching, with offerings like the ghost pepper-infused Scalding Pig. They’ve taken their wackiness and commitment to “Damn Good Tacos” to four other states, EVEN Oklahoma, and have a giant black truck that looks like it’s ready to run tacos down Fury Road after the apocalypse. And, during critical times for our blood donations, they thank folks for donating with some of that tortilla-wrapped goodness.

Union Pacific Foundation

We’d like to thank the incredible folks at Union Pacific Foundation for providing us with a generous grant dedicated to helping members of our communities battling COVID-19. The grant has allowed us to greatly grow our convalescent plasma program and continue to supply our Central Texas hospitals with the resources they need to save lives. For over 150 years Union Pacific has been dedicated to Building America. Through their foundation, they are committed to the advancement of public safety, workforce development, and Covid-19 relief for local communities.

Whataburger

When you have conversations about Texas and Texas icons, Whataburger is inevitably brought up. The two go hand in hand. So good, even their ketchup is legendary. Harmon Dobson launched the very first Whataburger in 1950 in Corpus Christi, TX and they are still family-owned and operated today! Whataburger is beloved right here in Central Texas and they give back to our community big time! During the COVID-19 pandemic, Whataburger has donated legendary Whataburger burgers to our blood donors and hosted numerous mobile blood drive buses in their parking lots. We’re proud to have the Whataburger family as a part of the We Are Blood family!

 

Real Ale

Located in Blanco, is the Real Ale brewery and distillery actually a few miles outside of our service area? Maybe not. But maybe. But we love them and the great beer they’ve been producing for over 20 years, making them one of the first great breweries of the modern era of Central Texas breweries. And, they love us, inviting us to all their anniversary parties, and the very hilly, but very fun Real Ale Bike Ride every year. 

ABGB (Austin Beer Garden and Brewery)

Twice named the Best Large Brewpub at the Great American Beer Festival, when the folks at ABGB aren’t giving their all to brewing great gold-medal-winning beers, they’re giving their all to organizations like Austin Pets Alive!, the SIMS Foundation, and other great local causes, much of it through their Hell Yes! Project. ABGB has also been a friend to We Are Blood and our donors, partly because they were personally impacted by the passing from cancer of Carlo Longino, a patron that was dear and well-known there, and whose picture still hangs at stage right. For them, that drove home how important a resource our blood supply is They’ve held blood drives, thanked donors with their giant, fantastic slices of pizza, and consistently invite us to events to spread the word about blood donation.

OK… Pretty much all Central Texas Breweries

A look at national beer awards every year will tell you that some of the best breweries in the country are right here in Central Texas. While we could go on naming the couple dozen of those local breweries that have said, “here, hold my beer” to help the community blood supply, it would fill an entire website. From Austin Beerworks’ Bloodwork Bash, celebrating their delicious Bloodwork Orange IPA, and blood donation, to folks from places like Desert Door, St. Elmo, Southern Heights, Black Star Co-Op, Live Oak, Lazarus, and other breweries rolling up their sleeves every year as they participate in our Beer Positive Brewery Challenge, our beer community always comes through for us.