Hundreds line up to donate blood for Thousand Oaks shooting victims in the Central Coast

Up and down the Central Coast, hundreds of blood donors have checked into clinics and lined up for blood drives to help Thousand Oaks shooting victims.

For some donors, the tragedy at Borderline Bar and Grill hit close to home.

“My kids have gone dancing there, my son’s band has played there,” said Jane Frenzel of Atascadero. “You know a lot of our friends go there still, so…I wanted to try and donate today.”

On Thursday, Frenzel decided to stop by Vitalant’s office in San Luis Obispo, formerly known as United Blood Services.

“I was actually in Thousand Oaks last night for work. I used to live in the area and I was really concerned when I saw about the Borderline incident.”

Her daughter knows the bar well, too.

“I started going there when I was 17 with my mom to go salsa dancing and i know a lot of friends that go to that bar still,” shared Kara Frenzel, who also dropped by Vitalant and donated blood for the first time ever.

“I wanna do something to make a difference,” she said.

Staff at Vitalant is grateful and impressed by all the blood donors they’ve seen today.

“Our community is such a generous giving community that when a tragedy like this happens, they just wanna give back and do something positive,” the organization’s Mona Kleman said.

Those looking to donate blood can look up a nearby Vitalant clinic by visiting their website.