By Patricia Smith, American Red Cross volunteer
Robin Pedersen started her life with medical issues. In 1959, when she was four years old, her parents were told she didn’t have enough white blood cells to fight off infections, and like caring parents, they didn’t give up searching for a way to help their child.
The doctors told her parents that Robin needed a blood product, a blood protein known as gamma globulins, and that the hospital could not provide that much-needed blood product.
Robin's parents reached out to the American Red Cross with the hope that gamma globulin might be available. Without hesitation, the Red Cross came to Robin’s rescue, which brought hope to her parents. The Red Cross provided Robin’s hospital with a two-year supply of the needed blood product.
Following her treatment, Robin was selected to appear on a poster promoting the Red Cross, an honor that Robin still treasures today.
Once retired from her full-time employment, Robin decided to become a Red Cross volunteer, showing her appreciation for the life-saving blood product that was made available to her so many years ago.
Robin has filled many roles within the Red Cross, including working with the casework team. Currently, Robin finds satisfaction as a Disaster Action Team Supervisor, responding to home fires and other emergencies, helping her neighbors through some of their toughest days. Robin is in the process of completing her classes in Shelter Management and hopes to soon qualify to be a shelter manager.
Robin’s compassion is appreciated by those she helps and those who work with her. She may have grown up over the years, but Robin will always be a poster child for the American Red Cross.
To learn more about becoming a Red Cross volunteer, please visit redcross.org/volunteer. To make an appointment to donate blood to help hospital patients, visit RedCrossBlood.org.
Note: The American Red Cross no longer provides gamma globulin under the Red Cross brand. Today, the Red Cross offers a variety of blood products to meet the needs of hospital patients including whole blood, red blood cells, plasma and platelets.