For our October Celebration of Pearson’s 175 Anniversary & OBL Founders Day, we are giving back to our communities! One of the ways we can do that is through donating blood. Every day, blood donors help patients of all ages: accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those battling cancer. In fact, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. We can make a difference by taking the time do donate and isn’t that amazing?

From Erik Albertine: Since I was 18, I have donated these vital fluids as often as I could, giving over five gallons during this time. Recently, I have been donating through the Red Cross, which has many, easy to find donation opportunities through the country. While my children are too young to donate themselves, I often invite them to come along to see that it is not scary or painful (if the stick is done correctly, that is), and hopefully to encourage them to do the same when they are older. Right now, though, they just enjoy the free snacks and juice, and the occasional movie that plays at the donation site.

From Brittany Piegari: My mom has had a lot of medical conditions and related injuries over her life, so I’ve spent my fair share of time in doctors offices and hospitals. I didn’t want to follow in her footsteps of becoming a nurse, but once I found out that my blood type was O- (universal donor) she encouraged me to donate blood. I started donating in high school and early college, but fell out of the habit when life got busy. It was only last year, when my mother-in-law invited me to donate at a drive, that I remembered how much I enjoyed donating and started back up again! That sounds weird, right? Enjoying having a needle in my arm and leaving a building with less blood than I started with? But it’s true – I love that this small action on my part has the ability to impact someone else’s life, possible even save it! It amazes me each time I donate that I can spend just an hour and a half of my time, get a small prick from a needle, and eat snacks to save lives. That is pretty spectacular!

Erik created a Pearson OBL Red Cross Team for us, so if you already donate or plan to donate, be sure to join our team so we can see the impact Pearson OBL makes! To join:
– Download the app “Blood Donor” from the American Red Cross
– Sign up
– Select Impact (bottom right)
– Select “My Team” (top middle, small font)
– Search for “Pearson OBL” and join the team!