By Nancy Aziz, American Red Cross volunteer

If you’ve ever given blood at an American Red Cross Antis Roofing & Waterproofing Blood Drive, then you know it’s not your typical blood donation experience. The two main reasons: tasty tacos, and the boundless energy of Charles Antis, the Orange County businessman who helped bring the drives to life as a way to help the community, while having a little fun.

Donors love the fact that they are doing something good: giving blood to help accident victims, cancer patients, people suffering from sickle cell disease and other conditions that require blood.

Donors also love what comes after they’ve donated. That’s when they’re treated to an Orange County favorite … a burrito from Wahoo’s Fish Taco, California Love Drop,  courtesy of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing. I mean who doesn’t love Wahoo’s? They also bring burritos! And sometimes Yogurtland frozen yogurt!

Charles Antis, the founder of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing, is the other reason Antis blood drives aren’t your ordinary blood drives. The man who invites the Red Cross to use an ample-sized room in the company’s Irvine facility for blood drives is often spotted at the drives exuberantly welcoming donors with his big smile. He’s likely to be wearing his signature jacket, burgundy velvet with a special lining bearing the names of the various organizations to which he donates his time, money and energy. He also cheers on blood donors from the sidelines and takes the time to speak with them to find out why they’re donating. Antis himself is a big believer in giving back and has been charity-minded for decades.

Red Cross Board Members Roll up Their Sleeves to Give

The latest Red Cross Antis Blood Drive on August 11 was a collaboration with the Red Cross of Orange County Chapter’s Board of Directors. Though Antis himself wasn’t able to be at the event, one of the few he’s missed, the drive still featured the makings of Antis’ popular blood drives: the tasty meal from Wahoo’s, and the energy and enthusiasm centered around doing something good.

Red Cross of Orange County Board Vice Chair Susan DeGrassi, who is also the President and COO of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing, gave blood at the drive along with other members of the board. She’s been donating blood long before she started working at Antis when she was a kid working at Disneyland.

“I first gave blood when I was in high school. Way back in the day they would bring the mobile to the Disneyland Park and we would get to give blood during our shift, and I’ve kept up with it all these years,” she said.

DeGrassi says Antis hosts about four to five blood drives every month and has since the start of the pandemic.

“No sooner did the shutdown begin than an email came out from the Red Cross they were losing all their spaces that they normally do blood drives at, churches, schools, that sort of thing and we had this big vacant space no one was going to be here, and we said yes,” she said.

Antis Blood Drives Making an Impact

To date she says they’ve hosted over 175 blood drives and collected more than 4,727 units of blood in all that potentially helped thousands of patients in need. The regular drives make Antis one of the Red Cross Orange County’s most dedicated blood drive partners.

“We should do 200 in January, February. It will be quite the party when we hit that milestone,” said DeGrassi.

Just like the blood drives - the party is likely to be a lot of fun – and if past events are any indication, it will likely feature Wahoo’s tacos.

If you’d like to donate blood at the next Red Cross Antis Roofing & Waterproofing Blood Drive you can go to RedCrossBlood.org to make an appointment.