By Erin Craw, PhD

After seeing a blood drive event poster on his college campus one day, Andrew Delaney kickstarted his incredible donor journey with the American Red Cross – one that would inspire many, especially his family.

BECOMING A DONOR Andrew quickly developed an appreciation for giving and began donating regularly. In fact, ever since that first blood drive experience, Andrew has continued to donate whenever possible. As a result, he has already donated two gallons of blood and has his cherished pin from the American Red Cross to show for it. Andrew has also expanded his dedication to saving lives with a special type of blood donation called the Power Red, which involves donating two units of red blood cells in one donation and using a special machine to return your plasma and platelets to you at the same time.

He has continued to feel empowered to donate, realizing the immense need and value of giving, following the path of where the American Red Cross has sent his blood to save lives.

“I realize I’m helping so many people. I saw that on the map that some of my blood went to Oregon, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘wow, my blood went to Oregon, it went across the country,’ and I was showing all my friends. I never left New England, but my blood is in Oregon,” Andrew said. “It is amazing that someone’s loved one is surviving because a lot of us are putting our arms out and donating as much as we can. And it gives me faith in humanity, that humans can be good to each other.”

In sharing his experiences and perspective on being a donor and putting forth such efforts to donate regularly, even despite some fears, he said, “It’s the idea that I’m helping people. My little pain now is helping someone who could be bleeding out, or someone who is fighting for their life. I can endure a little pain for them to live or for them to feel better quicker. I can take a pinprick so a family’s loved one can stay alive. My pain is inconsequential compared to someone else who is going to need this, and if you think of that, it’s not that bad”.

A FAMILY CONNECTION Andrew was familiar with the American Red Cross before he began donating, thanks to his grandmother, Beverly Leone, who had volunteered previously, and was thrilled to hear of her grandson’s commitment to giving back to the community. When the two see each other, they discuss his recent and upcoming blood donation plans and share their devotion to helping others.

Andrew’s parents also expressed their deep sense of pride in their son’s immense impact on others, which inspired them to start donating as well. “We’re super proud of Andrew. He is so on top of it. He’s so proud of it. He does it to help other people and then talks about how many lives he’s saving, and he’s the reason that we started to do it for sure,” Andrew’s mother, Melissa, said.

Andrew shared his enthusiasm with his parents, encouraging them to donate together as a family. In May, Andrew’s parents joined him to donate blood at the Hartford Yard Goats Stadium. “It’s something for us to do and bond about,” said Andrew. His father, Richard, explained that having Andrew guide him through the process and share his experience helped. “Andrew made that process a lot easier, and it was beneficial to me that Andrew was able to guide me through that,” Rich said. “Andrew signed us all up for it and helped me download the app and get me all involved, which I thought was awesome. He takes great pride and excitement in donating blood. He comes home with some swag to show off when he donates.”

Since their first blood donation as a family, they created a team in the American Red Cross app and remain eager to add others from the family as they continue to donate together. They now have a friendly donation competition underway and genuinely enjoy spending time together in this way for such a worthy cause.

To learn more about becoming a blood donor, visit www.redcrossblood.org