Who Could You Save If You Donate?

All day long, I think about ways to encourage people to come in and donate blood at their local blood bank. For most people, the idea of helping their community is enough to motivate them to come out and roll up a sleeve. But for others, the idea just isn’t enough to get them to commit.

I wish that I could show those individuals who they could be saving. It might be that cute little girl with the pigtails from down the street. Maybe it could be the man next door, who is a grandfather of six. Or maybe, just maybe, it could save that coworker you see every week, but haven’t had a chance to get to know. Every blood donation can change a life. Every blood donation can create a new chapter in someone’s story.

Sometimes it just helps to be able to “see” the impact you’re making. I understand that. We are visual creatures. We love to see what people are talking about, and watch things as they happen (like a high-speed chase on the news). So the next time someone asks you to schedule an appointment to give blood, please pull out your wallet, look at a picture of a loved one and just think for a moment. It could be their life you save.