A new Mid-Michigan business isn't sitting well with some of its neighbors.
The plasma donation center in Jackson has some people saying it's bad for the community, while others say it helps them make ends meet.
Life-long Jackson resident Tasha Carter believes "CSL Plasma on Prospect and Francis will attract addicts looking for money to help finance their habit.
“We have issues with drug abuse and addiction in the city, opiates and heroin, crack”, Carter said.
“Ward one specifically has the highest concentration of poverty in the city.”
The center’s manager says people from all walks of life come in to donate.
“It hurts me that people say only the addicts and only the people who are you know maybe not making the best choices in society donate plasma because it's just not the truth”, Mark Bundy said.
Bundy says there are rewarding benefits to donating plasma.
“Donors will earn anywhere between $40-$70 a week with the current pay structure that we have”, Bundy explained.
“We are providing a donation, a plasma donation to help people who are born with some form of you know a disorder.
FOX 47’s Cryss Walker also stopped to speak with donors who say the center is a big help in between paychecks.
“Gas and food and like stuff for class”, said Emmerson Breithart – Varga.
“I think it can help people who may be struggling a little bit and it's not like incredibly hard to like get in to do it… it’s just that you have to have patience and time.”
If you would like to donate plasma at the new center in Jackson, your zip code must be listed in the recruitment area.
You will also need to bring a valid license or state I.D. and a social security card.
Management at the CSL Plasma Center say people with suspicious needle marks or other signs of drug abuse will be turned away. Plasma has many purposes.
It carries a lot of substances that are vital to the human body.
It can help blood clot and fight diseases.
Once plasma is collected, samples are sent to an out of state lab.
They are quarantined and either used for research or turned into medicines.
