By Bethany Bray Patterson, communications director, Red Cross of the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region

Jane Swensen and her daughter, Anne-Marie Engelstad, make time to go on mother-daughter dates regularly to keep in touch. 

Sometimes they visit a museum or go out to lunch. They also visit the Red Cross blood donation center in Washington, D.C. to donate blood together. 

“This isn’t your typical mother-daughter date,” Anne-Marie said, chuckling, as she sat on a blood donor bed across from her mother on a recent afternoon. 

Jane, of Bethesda, Maryland, has donated close to thirty times, a total of more than three gallons of blood. Anne-Marie first donated in college, but then life got busy and she hadn’t donated for a long time. 

Last year, Jane suggested they give together on her birthday – and a tradition was born. Anne-Marie recently gave her 8th donation, bumping her over the one-gallon mark. 

“My mom has inspired me in so many ways over the years, inspired me to give back, and this is just one way to do that,” said Anne-Marie, who grew up in Bethesda but now lives in D.C. “And it’s nice to do it together.” 

They’re already talking about donating with three generations together, once Anne-Marie's children are teenagers and eligible to give. 

Anne-Marie and Jane both have type O blood, and they say it’s one of the reasons they give regularly. Type O blood is the most transfused blood type — which means it’s the highest in demand and most often in short supply. 

Type O negative is the universal blood type and can be transfused to anyone who needs blood. It’s the blood type that doctors turn to first in trauma situations and emergencies when there is no time to match a patient's blood type. 

Blood from generous donors like Anne-Marie and Joan help ensure that premature babies, cancer patients, accident victims and many others have access to safe, lifesaving blood when they need it most. 

“It’s an easy way to help,” Joan says of donating, “and the staff make it easy, a very smooth process.” 

Jane and Anne-Marie have seen the need for lifesaving blood in their own family, in a relative who needed a transfusion, as well as in their community, including a teacher at Anne-Marie's sons’ elementary school who lived with sickle cell disease. 

They meet regularly to donate at the Dr. Charles Drew blood donation center on E Street in Northwest D.C. Afterwards, they take a selfie, and Anne-Marie shares their photo on social media to inspire others to donate. 

Donating blood “helps me connect to my community. It’s a way we can take care of each other,” Anne-Marie says. “Why not have a friend go with you and you can have the experience together.” 

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The need for blood is constant. Every day, volunteer blood and platelet donors are needed across the country to help save lives. When you roll up a sleeve to donate, you help change a life. 

Schedule an appointment to donate today by visiting RedCrossBlood.org.