Community partners play a big role in saving lives by hosting blood drives. In 2021, Bonefish Grill held multiple blood drives throughout OneBlood's service area which resulted in thousands of lives being saved. 

We reached out to Kimberly Higgins, Marketing Manager at Bonefish Grill, to learn more about her role and why they chose to partner with OneBlood. Kim, pictured in the donor bed, also shares a very personal experience about how blood donations have impacted her family. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Bonefish Grill.

For more than 20 years, I have been in the hospitality industry and I really enjoy it! Most of my career has been supporting restaurants in their local marketing efforts. I currently support 185 Bonefish Grill restaurants with their local marketing efforts by helping drive community partnerships, brand awareness, and sales.

Why did the Bonefish Grill choose to team up with OneBlood?

Partnering with OneBlood made perfect sense for us at Bonefish! For starters, OneBlood sites are in many of our Bonefish Grill communities and we have always said in our Principles and Beliefs that our promise to our neighbors is to have an active presence and support our community, and by hosting these blood drives we believe we are committed to doing that exact thing. 

What are you most excited about this partnership?

For me, the OneBlood partnership comes full circle. About seven years ago when my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. My local community of friends and family rallied to host a blood drive that not only collected 67 donations, but it also celebrated our family and helped others.

We called the drive “Give Love”.  That is exactly what you are doing when you donate blood, you give a lifesaving donation from yourself to another, you are in fact “giving love” to one another. What a fantastic gift to give during this holiday season and throughout the entire year. 

What message would you like to share with the community about blood donations? 

Giving blood is an exceptional way to help others. Your donation can save a life, help a cancer patient and or someone in need. In a world where so much divides us, a blood donation can unite us and help make the world a better place by helping someone that needs this critical resource.

Finally, you never know when you might be in need of a life-saving donation and need others to donate to help you or a family member.                

Fun Bonus Question: What is one of your favorite dishes on the Bonefish Grill menu?

Blackberry Red Sangria! Oh! You asked for a dish! It’s so hard to choose just one—Our family always starts with our legendary Bang Bang Shrimp and I always get excited when grouper with our lemon butter topping is on our Partner’s Selection menu, however, my go to is a sirloin and shrimp—Surf and Turf, a win-win!