Last week I was fortunate to participate in a tour of the metro Atlanta headquarters of the American Red Cross.  The purpose of the tour was to educate participants on the Red Cross’s five key lines of service — disaster response, assistance to the armed forces, CPR & first aid training, international services, and, of course, blood services.

The tour walked us through the important work done in all five lines of service, but no area struck me more than the blood donation area.   Specifically, I was continually confounded by the numbers.  In short, the Red Cross is in a constant fight to have enough blood and blood products to meet its needs.  Our speaker mentioned that every two seconds someone needs a blood product — and you really never know when that person could be you or someone you love.   It occurred to me that especially in a down economy, donating blood is the ideal way to give!  It costs nothing but a little bit of your time and can literally save a life. Continue reading →