When George Rohrich needs $20, he knows where to go. “It was only occasionally in Wyoming,” explains Rohrich, 25, as he walks toward a door marked Biomat Inc, located off SE Holgate Boulevard. “But the cost of living in Portland is so much greater than in Wyoming…Donating plasma is a way to supplement income.”
Although Rohrich, a mental health technician, is used to only visiting the blood bank once or twice a year, he now finds himself walking towards Biomat’s door more and more often and he is not alone. By noon, BioMat is already booked solid until they close at 6 PM. By the size of the crowd milling about the lobby, business is booming.
“It’s taking me a bit to find my groove,” explains Rohrich, who only moved to Portland two-months ago. “I don’t make as much as I did back home. I haven’t had much need to donate plasma until now.” In uncertain economic times people are finding resourceful ways of generating income.
Blood bank
Think of your body as an every-other-day supply of twenty dollars in the form of plasma. Plasma is a yellowish component of blood that’s carries nutrients throughout the body and, in about an hour’s time, can be extracted from the donor who will then receive cash on the spot. “Usually it’s $20 but it can go either way,” Rohrich explains. First time donors will have to fill out a history questionnaire and consent to a physical prior to giving a donation.
“After seeing the same faces again and again, you wonder if this is some people’s main source of income?” Rohrich considers as he waits in the lobby for his number to be called. “I mean I’ll use the money to buy food and cigarettes but for someone else that [$20] might only be a meal for them and their kids.”
For donation eligibility and requirement, call Biomat at (503) 777-5320
Biomat Inc
8033 SE Holgate Blvd
Portland, OR 97206
or
http://bloodbanker.com/ to locate a plasma donation bank nearest you
Pharming out your body
Do you have diabetes or arthritis? Are you a smoker? If you answered yes or no to any of those questions you could be eligible for a clinical research trial because someone has to test the products the pharmaceutical industry keeps churning out. Payment can range from $20 gift cards to over a thousand dollars in cash depending upon the study’s length, intrusiveness or other extraneous requirements.
While the need for people/ailments changes regularly, the metro area currently has over 90-paying studies and two facilities to accommodate your sojourn into the world of experimentation: Oregon Health Science University and Covance, a pharmaceutical and biotechnological testing company. To find out more about testing prerequisites, medical ailments needed and compensation, visit Oregon Health Science University and Covance’s websites listed below.
Oregon Health Science University
3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon
http://www.ohsu.edu/research/rda/so/index.php
Covance
5331 SW Macadam Avenue Suite 307
Portland, OR
www.testwiththebest.com
503-557-8839
Cash in your two cents
Whether you have a sensitive palette or have solid opinions on food, Oregon State University Food Innovation Center pays testers $20 to $40 to consume and answer questionnaires about your likes and dislikes regarding the food’s/drink’s taste and packaging.
Once you get on their mailing list, e-mails are sent out a couple times month to alert people to upcoming tests. Besides getting to sit in a cubby and be fed through a sliding door, testing rarely takes over a half-hour and testers get paid cash at the test’s conclusion. Contact Oregon State University to find out about signing up for upcoming tests.
Oregon State University-Food Innovation Center
1207 NW Naito Parkway, Suite 154
Portland, Oregon
503-872-6672
consumer.info@oregonstate.edu
Cha-ching
If selling your body is not your forte consider a job that lets you work as much or as little as you want, with no set hours. ChaCha is a free service that allows people to call (1-800-2Cha-Cha), text (242242) or ask questions online via their website www.chacha.com. What differentiates ChaCha from a Google search, and what makes this a profitable endeavor for you, is that ChaCha has real people answering all of their questions. Whether you are an expeditor, generalist, specialist or transcriber, expect to earn anywhere from $3-9 per hour, according to ChaCha’s website, answering questions that run the gamut of: How do you slay a dragon and are ghosts real?
For application information visit ChaCha online at www.chacha.com
Mahalo has a similar business model set up, where people can get paid to answer questions. They can be viewed online at www.mahalo.com/
Hair-loom
If you don’t like being poked with needles or prodded with questions and strange food, you can always sell your hair. Websites like The Hair Trader allow buyers and sellers to meet and settle on a price that both parties are happy with.
Human hair is used to make extensions and wigs. The selling price for a length of hair depends upon length and natural state. Longer is better and hair free of color will fetch a higher price than hair that has been altered. Prices range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
www.thehairtrader.com
In the current economic conditions everything is a commodity. Start cashing in on your assets today and sell everything except yourself short.
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