My senior year of high school, the Red Cross held a blood drive in the gym. Word went out to all students who were 18 or older requesting they begin a lifetime habit of donating blood. I signed up. My parents had always been blood donors and I was finally old enough. My friends insisted I wasn’t eligible … the minimum weight requirement was 110 pounds. They were right, but they drove the point home with the tease, “you can’t give a whole pint if you’re only a half-pint.”
That was decades ago. I fudged the weight requirement by carrying something heavy for my weigh-ins (back when they actually weighed you instead of just asking). Within a year I’d donated my first pint. I’ve given gallons of blood over the years.
It’s easy! It’s painless (well, for me it is). It takes very little time. It makes me feel great! My most recent donation was just yesterday.
As I lay there pumping blood into a bag, I remembered an almost 20-year gap in my donation history. As a military member, I’d spent too much cumulative time in Europe and was ineligible from November 2001 until about two years ago. It had something to do with potential exposure to mad cow disease. I’m excited that I’m past those days.
A good friend recently sent me an invitation to a blood drive her step-daughter is sponsoring. It’s on 9/11 and celebrates first-responders. I’d already scheduled my appointment for late August, so I wouldn’t be able to help, but my patriotism twinged a little when I thought back to that day. Like many Americans I gave blood that fateful day, then once more eight weeks later before the rules changed.
If you’ve ever given blood, you know what I mean. If you haven’t and are eligible, it’s never too late to start. If you’re looking for a way to help others, but don’t want to commit to hours of volunteer work and don’t have money to send, this is a great way to do your part. Find a blood drive near you … through the American Red Cross, Vitalant, or any agency near you.
There’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored. Start by doing something good for yourself and others.
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