The Blood Bank of Hawaii unveiled a new $300,000 bloodmobile Tuesday that it acquired entirely through fundraising in Phase 1 of a plan to replace its aging fleet.

The 35-foot vehicle has two private donor history rooms, four bidirectional donor beds and a small canteen area. Either end of each bidirectional bed elevates to provide head support, enabling donors to use the arm of their choice on any bed. With this feature, wait times due to arm preference will be eliminated.

Nearly one-third of the 58,000 pints of blood collected annually come from donations given in a bloodmobile.

The major contributors for the new bloodmobile are the Atherton Family Foundation, Bank of Hawaii Foundation, Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, First Hawaiian Bank Foundation and HMSA Foundation. In addition, BBH received support from ABC Stores, Grove Farm, Hawaiian Electric, Matson, the Queen’s Medical Center, Servco, Zippy’s Restaurants and other individual donors.

BBH said the addition of the third vehicle to its fleet is critical in ensuring reliable mobility to meet daily blood collection needs while allowing for routine maintenance or repairs of all three bloodmobiles. BBH is still looking to raise funds so it can refurbish one of its other buses or purchase a refurbished bus. It plans to operate with two vehicles and have the third as a backup.

"Reliable mobility is so important not only for Blood Bank of Hawaii, but for the community," said Maura Dolormente, BBH director of marketing. "And it’s because of the community that the bloodmobile is able to be here today. Foundations, business and individuals helped make this possible."