My four-year-old son, Liam, was born in 2019 with a critical form of congenital heart disease. Since his birth, he has required four major open-heart surgeries and related procedures that have required many life-saving Red Cross blood products. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the type of congenital heart disease that Liam has, and he will need a series of more open-heart surgeries in the future. My family and I are grateful for each and every day.

I have personally created this SleevesUp virtual blood drive campaign because it is my way of thanking the blood donors who helped my son during his operations and also throughout his extensive recovery in the cardiac ICU. The SleevesUp goal is to reach 50 blood donation pledges, and I’m also aligning this SleevesUp with the upcoming JFK50 Mile ultramarathon in November. This will be my 3rd time participating in this incredible event. It is my plan to dedicate a mile to each donor who pledges, and I will also write the name of each donor on my race number to carry with me throughout the event.

I have created several SleevesUp virtual blood drives in the past and they have all been special to me. This SleevesUp is a dedication to my son and a platform to celebrate the impact that blood donations have made on his cardiac journey. My campaign goal is to reach 50 blood donation pledges. Please help me in supporting this campaign and pledge to donate blood. Thank you.