Blood donor Juan Villaveces serving on SunCoast Blood Bank board

As a student at Riverview High School in Sarasota, Juan Villaveces donated blood for the first time.

“I just thought it was a good way to give back,” said Villaveces, now a real estate attorney at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick. “It was a way I could do my part, so I donated consistently whenever I could.”

He continued donating blood during college and law school at Florida State University in Tallahassee. And he didn’t stop when he got back to Sarasota.

Villaveces first donated blood to SunCoast Blood Bank over 20 years ago when he was 23. In the years since, he’s donated blood to the nonprofit 36 times for a total of 47 units. That means he’s just one pint shy of the impressive six-gallon mark.

“The five-gallon milestone is admirable and it’s not achieved very often,” said SunCoast Blood Bank Chief Executive Officer Scott Bush. “Anything past that and you get into rarified air.”

SunCoast Blood Bank is an independent community blood bank serving hospitals and health centers in need in southwest Florida. It provides blood products to facilities in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.

Villaveces said he encourages people who have never given blood to donate.

“It’s a relatively easy and painless way to help people,” he said. “It doesn’t take much time for you to make a difference in someone’s life. Blood donations save lives.”

Mobile blood banks make it even easier for people to donate, he said, because these units travel to different locations that might be more convenient to people’s houses or offices.

Recently, Villaveces was tapped to serve on the SunCoast Blood Bank board. He has already joined the board’s finance committee.

“Juan is a great advocate,” Bush said. “He’ll help us get the word out in addition to helping us in the legal realm.”

Bush and Villaveces are also thinking about how they can advocate for hospices to get reimbursed for blood products their clients use.

“Blood products can help you feel more energetic,” Bush said. “If there’s a way we can help advocate for their usage in hospices, that’s important. Palliative care is where it needs to go.”

In addition to his work on the board, Villaveces will keep donating, aiming to reach the next blood donation milestone.

“It helps people directly and really makes a difference in their lives,” Villaveces said. “Rather than waiting for a blood shortage, give now. It’s a great, easy way to give back to the community.”