Tag: Donate Blood

Are You Able to Donate Blood? Now–Yes, Now, During A Covid-19 Lockdown–is a Great Time to Give
Action Alerts · Community Activism · Uncategorized

Are You Able to Donate Blood? Now–Yes, Now, During A Covid-19 Lockdown–is a Great Time to Give

otycd

Are you able to give blood? Now–yes, now, when many states are imposing Covid-19 lockdowns–is a great time to give.

 

In past posts, we’ve asked you to think about donating blood. While there is never a bad time to give blood (there’s always a need), now is an especially good time to do so. And doing it now grants you the extra benefit of a legit reason to leave your damn house.

 

As long as Covid-19 is running rampant, blood drives are cancelled. As you might have guessed, blood banks rely on periodic blood drives to maintain their holdings. Being forced to quit scheduling these events has already started to take a toll on the blood banking system.

 

The American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) began raising the alarm about potential shortages in early March of 2020.

 

If you can give blood, please do. If for some reason you are stopped by authorities, bring up this post on your phone and click on the links in the paragraph above.

 

If you’d like to give blood but aren’t sure where to go, start here. Or here.

 

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Make an Appointment to Donate Blood Every Time You Hear About a New Mass Shooting
Action Alerts · Community Activism · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Make an Appointment to Donate Blood Every Time You Hear About a New Mass Shooting

otycd

This OTYCD post originally appeared in November 2018.

 

When news breaks of a new mass shooting in America, make an appointment to donate blood (if you’re eligible to do so). 

 

Because the majority of Americans are in fact sane, we are sickened when we learn of a new mass shooting. It makes us feel powerless as well (and don’t even ask about the decades, yes, decades of effort many of us have devoted, and will continue to devote, to trying to get our gun laws changed).

 

After the June 2017 shooting at the Congressional Republican baseball practice, we at OYTCD suggested that readers donate to the three charities that benefit from the game and also consider donating blood, even if they didn’t live in or around Washington, D.C. Blood donations drop in summer, what with vacations and the other schedule disruptions that come with the season. And Steve Scalise, the Congressman who suffered the worst injuries, definitely needed blood transfusions and continued to need them.

 

So here’s something to consider. Every time you hear about a mass shooting, consider making an appointment to donate blood at a facility near you.

 

Ok, we can almost read your mind–“But I won’t have any blood left if I do that!” If it’s too early for you to donate blood, offer to escort a friend. Or offer to volunteer at a blood donation facility. Or if you’re due to renew your driver’s license and you haven’t indicated you’re an organ donor, do that.

 

Or substitute some other bit of routine community activism that fits. Spend an hour at the library tutoring someone whose first language isn’t English. Donate peanut butter and tuna fish to a food bank. Do something to make your community better that you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t gotten around to yet.

 

Answer an act of random violence by making the world better. Every bit helps, however small it might seem.

 

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Give Blood to Fight the Summer Slowdown in Donations
Community Activism · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Give Blood to Fight the Summer Slowdown in Donations

otycd

Please donate blood before and during the summer months, a time when donations tend to fall off sharply.

 

The Red Cross always needs donations of blood and platelets, but things get worse in the summer months, when schedules are disrupted by vacations and blood drives at high schools and colleges are not an option.

 

If you are a regular donor, please plan vacations with your donation schedule in mind, and try to recruit a friend or two to come and donate with you during the summer.

 

If it’s been a while since you gave, think about how and when to work a blood drive into your summer plans.

 

If you have never donated, find out if you are eligible, and consider whether it is something you feel you can do.

 

 

Find the Red Cross blood drive happening closest to you:

http://www.redcross.org

 

 

Read about how blood and platelet donations tend to drop severely–losing as many as 100,000–during the summer:

http://www.redcrossblood.org/news/nne/red-cross-urges-blood-and-platelet-donations-summer

 

 

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Donate to the Charities That Benefit from the Congressional Baseball Game
Action Alerts · Community Activism · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends · Vote with your Dollars

Donate to the Charities That Benefit from the Congressional Baseball Game

otycd

This OTYCD entry originally posted in June 2017.

Donate to the charities that benefit from the annual Congressional Baseball Game, which will go on as scheduled despite the June 14 shooting.

By now you are aware of the incident, in which a man attacked the Republican Congressional baseball team as they practiced on an Alexandria, Va., diamond for the bipartisan match. House rep Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who is the Republican majority whip, was shot in the hip and faces a long recovery. Two members of his security detail were among the four others injured by gunfire.

The Congressional baseball game is a Washington, D.C. tradition that dates back to 1909. Today, it benefits three charities: The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, and the Washington Literacy Center.

One way to show your support for the victims and for the Congressional players is to donate to one or all of these charities. If you live in Washington, D.C., consider volunteering with them.

Below the charities’ contact info we’ll repost the text of our entry on donating blood during the summer months. Scalise needed blood transfusions and he faces more surgeries on his road to recovery. Even if you don’t live near the capital, donating blood will help your community.

 

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington:

http://www.bgcgw.org

 

The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation:

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/community/dreamfoundation/

 

The Washington Literacy Center:

https://www.washlit.org

 

Read a story on how the Congressional players will go ahead with the June 15 game, despite the shooting:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/15/politics/congressional-baseball-shooting/index.html

 

Text of the post on summer blood donation follows.

Please donate blood before and during the summer months, a time when donations tend to fall off sharply.

The Red Cross always needs donations of blood and platelets, but things get worse in the summer months, when schedules are disrupted by vacations and blood drives at high schools and colleges are not an option.

If you are a regular donor, please plan vacations with your donation schedule in mind, and try to recruit a friend or two to come and donate with you during the summer.

If it’s been a while since you gave, think about how and when to work a blood drive into your summer plans.

If you have never donated, find out if you are eligible, and consider whether it is something you feel you can do.

 

Find the Red Cross blood drive happening closest to you:

http://www.redcross.org

 

Read about how blood and platelet donations tend to drop severely–losing as many as 100,000–during the summer:

http://www.redcrossblood.org/news/nne/red-cross-urges-blood-and-platelet-donations-summer

 

 

 

 

Give Blood to Fight the Summer Slowdown in Donations
Community Activism · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Give Blood to Fight the Summer Slowdown in Donations

otycd

Please donate blood before and during the summer months, a time when donations tend to fall off sharply.

 

The Red Cross always needs donations of blood and platelets, but things get worse in the summer months, when schedules are disrupted by vacations and blood drives at high schools and colleges are not an option.

 

If you are a regular donor, please plan vacations with your donation schedule in mind, and try to recruit a friend or two to come and donate with you during the summer.

 

If it’s been a while since you gave, think about how and when to work a blood drive into your summer plans.

 

If you have never donated, find out if you are eligible, and consider whether it is something you feel you can do.

 

 

Find the Red Cross blood drive happening closest to you:

http://www.redcross.org

 

 

Read about how blood and platelet donations tend to drop severely–losing as many as 100,000–during the summer:

http://www.redcrossblood.org/news/nne/red-cross-urges-blood-and-platelet-donations-summer

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!