Thanks to the generosity and courage of donors across our country, my dad’s life was saved with a blood transfusion and critical platelets during a major surgery on his back which resulted in massive blood loss. I am an advocate of this civil and patriotic effort because without the supply of blood, our hospitals and trauma centers could not save lives. After learning that one donation of blood can save up to three lives, it was apparent to me that I had a responsibility to my fellow humans because I would have never thought the need for blood would have hit so close to home. I now realize that we are all likely to know someone in our lifetime that will have a need for blood…. so why not pay it forward?

“You must never so much think as whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it.” – Clara Barton