I achieved a milestone in January. I was sitting down reading a book on my Kindle when it happened. No one congratulated me or gave me balloons, but knowing I reached, it makes me smile. I joined the two-gallon level in blood donations with the American Red Cross.
When I was little, I remember my father getting a call from the Red Cross every couple of months asking him to donate blood. He usually would do it because he had O-negative blood. I wanted to be like him, so I set my sights on becoming a blood donor.
Life happened, and I forgot about donating blood. In college, I began my journey of donating blood. I donated to help my friend who had organized the blood drive. It didn’t take long, and they gave college students free snacks and sodas. It was a win-win for me. I did not donate again until a school drive when I was teaching. Again, it was easy. But it took away from my planning period, so I didn’t do it again.
While stationed in Germany during a deployment, the Red Cross asked for blood donations, but with three kids following me everywhere, I could not donate. In 2017, 1 started using the Red Cross app to track my donations. It notified me of my milestone. It did not send me balloons or confetti but changed my card to the two-gallon club.
I love the ease of giving blood through the Red Cross, but as an organization, it does so much more. It does blood drives. It is also a relief agency, sending professionals and volunteers to disasters every eight minutes, somewhere in the United States, from small house fires to major storms or disasters.
The Red Cross also certifies and trains lifeguards, emergency personnel, and anyone interested in learning CPR, first aid, water safety, etc. They lead the way in safety standards around pools, babysitting, and first aid. My kids learned CPR in high school, and my son still uses his Red Cross lifeguard training.
Another area where their commitment never wavers is to military families. Red Cross volunteers provide support for military families in the U.S. and abroad. They are in hospitals, on bases, and wherever the need is the greatest. The volunteers connect families with chaplains to provide urgent messages. They support those families after the messages are shared and send care packages and supplies to deployed service personnel.
While I am proud of my donation, I am prouder to volunteer with an organization that cares for people from the first day to their last breath. The American Red Cross impacts the military and its families daily, everywhere.
March is American Red Cross month. I have my blood donation scheduled. I will be signing up for my CPR certification, which I have allowed to lapse. What will you do to prepare for the future? How can the American Red Cross help? What can you do to support an organization that gives so much to our military community?
