SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers teamed up with OneBlood and JetBlue to host a blood drive in honor of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and to raise awareness of the constant need for a ready blood supply in the community.
"They reached out last week. We wanted to make sure that we had enough trucks (and) that we're doing it the right way, not right away, so it took about a week to put it all together," Panthers business executive Shawn Thornton said.
After their morning skate, Local 10 News reporter Nicole Perez spoke to some of the players.
While the players are currently fighting for a spot in the playoffs, their minds are still on those affected by the mass shooting.
"The only thing we can do is commemorate and try to help the families and do it the best we can. You know, just go out and do our job and play as hard as we can for these people," Roberto Luongo said.
Thornton said the Panthers want to help in any way they can.
"If someone wants to come to a game and just get away from things for a couple of hours, all they have to do is reach out and we would be happy to have them," Thornton said. "We just want to support anyone who's been affected by this."
People can donate blood at the BB&T Center Thursday until 7 p.m. The Panthers will continue taking donations from the pregame until the second intermission. They are giving each person who donates blood a voucher for two tickets to an upcoming game.
