Bravehearted in the midst of war or disaster, and at home
The Mississippi Army National Guard 223rd Engineering Battalion (based at West Point, Mississippi) was deployed to Iraq in the spring of 2003 and became part of the 4th Infantry Division, handling engineering operations all over Northern Iraq. The citizen soldiers returned stateside one year later to resume their domestic role as the state’s “first responders” to hurricane damage. Members rolled again in full force just hours after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 2005. Guard members led security operations, cleared roads and distributed water and food to hurricane victims.

Once back at the base, they took on another critical mission: supplying blood for their local community. They held a blood drive in January 2006, their first since returning home. Later in the year they partnered with their community for an Independence Day blood drive in the parking lot of a local supermarket. Showing their soft side, these tough war heroes set up a huge tent, brought equipment for kids to climb on, took pictures with the families and gave away freebies to blood donors. “Whatever it takes to help the community and the country, we’re here to do it,” says Staff Sergeant (SSG) Greg Lackie, who coordinates blood drives for the base. The locations are vastly different—war zone, disaster area, blood drive—but the focus on saving lives and making a difference is ultimately the same.

“Blood Brothers” unite for amazing blood drive event
During a weekend in June 2006, cancer survivor Mark Barnett hosted one of the largest blood drives that United Blood Services/Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas had ever seen. Mark’s “Blood Brothers” campaign netted more than 360 blood donations—many from bikers—during the summer months, when blood donations become scarce.

Mark’s family owns the Barnett Harley Davidson dealership. It’s one of the nation’s largest Harley Davidson dealerships and has long hosted three blood drives a year averaging 35 blood donations each. When Mark stepped in, the result was a staggering 900 percent increase. His strategy was to create “an event” and to bring lots of publicity to the need for blood.

And what an event it was! Mark printed and mailed more than 5,000 postcards and teamed up with local TV and radio stations to promote and cover the event. He approached several of his suppliers requesting giveaways like T-shirts and bandanas so that everyone could walk away a winner. At the drive he had food booths and dished up banana splits for anyone who gave blood. To top it off, Barnett Harley Davidson donated an $18,000 Harley for a drawing among those who participated in the blood drive.

“It can happen to anyone like it happened to me,” Mark says. “You don’t realize how important having blood on the hospital shelves is until you need it. I want to make sure that no one ever needs to worry about that.”

We All Scream “Hooray for Doc Burnstein!”
Greg Steinberger is a blood donor and the owner of one of the more than 12,010 businesses that conducts blood drives with United Blood Services. His shop, Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab in Arroyo Grande, California, hosts four to six blood drives a year, attracting an average of 100 donors at each drive. Greg promotes his drives with a banner outside his store and a special page on his Web site. He thanks each donor with a certificate for a pint of his super-premium handmade ice cream.

Can one person make a difference? Greg’s efforts have saved the lives of thousands of his neighbors on the Central Coast of California. He will tell you his effort is nothing extraordinary, but a simple thing he can do for his community. United Blood Services thinks it’s nothing short of extraordinary the way that the efforts of Greg and his fellow blood drive sponsors and coordinators fulfill our mission of saving lives day after day.

Let’s hear it for the Monahans Loboes!
Across the country, high school students donated 15 percent of all blood collected at blood drives in 2006. Monahans High School in Monahans, Texas has a 15-year blood drive tradition. Students there put together their own blood drive challenge to other schools in the same football district. For some in Texas, high school football is as essential as oxygen and the students wanted to put blood donation on an equal playing field.

In 2006, six other high schools accepted the challenge from Monahans’ enthusiastic crew. Monahans’ committe of seven students holds two successful blood drives a year. Their fellow students might joke that they donate blood to get out of class, but in their next breath, they’ll say, “Because someone injured can use a part of me to get better.”

Corporations Making a Difference
Cabela’s, the world’s largest outfitter of hunting, fishing, and outdoor gear, has been hosting blood drives with United Blood Services since the early 1990s. The unique retail, catalog and Internet giant (with more than 12,000 employees across the country) sponsors an average of 17 blood drives a year at its corporate office as well as other Cabela’s facilities in western Nebraska. Cabela’s corporate office schedules its week-long blood drives to mesh into the calendar of other blood drives in its hometown as Cabela’s workforce is about 25 percent of the town's 6,000 population.

“It’s important to us to make sure we give our employeees every opportunity to donate blood, either at work or at a community drive,” says Larry Hiers, Cabela’s Human Resources Director. When Larry and his team of blood drive coordinators sit down with our staff to plan their blood drives, it's rewarding work. “Knowing that we are working together to save lives in our community is a powerful thing.”

A Dedicated Team
Al and Bertha have been organizing blood drives in their rural North Dakota town for more than 30 years. Through their determination, thousands of blood products have been collected for the hospitals in their area and their commitment is heroic. “This has been my number one volunteer effort, and we hope to do it as long as possible,” Bertha said, “I love helping so many people.”

Since 1975, the husband and wife team have worked on more than 300 blood drives and collected more than 28,000 blood donations. Rich Larcombe, Donor Recruitment Representative at United Blood Services who works with Al and Bertha on the blood drives, has been amazed by their efforts and dedication.  “Al and Bertha’s blood drives are an example for all blood drives.  They have recruited a great group of volunteers to help them, and they personally do whatever it takes to get the job done. What’s amazing is how they have continued to be so successful for so many years.”

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