January is National Blood Donor Month, a time to recognize the importance of giving blood and celebrate  those who generously donate. Meet Amy Kilmartin, an avid American Red Cross blood donor who recently achieved an impressive milestone.

At the annual Holiday Blood Drive in Kalamazoo, Kilmartin gave her 125th blood donation. That’s the equivalent of about 15.6 gallons of donated blood.“That’s a lot,” she said, marveling at the achievement and the number of honorary donation pins she has received over the years.

It was Kilmartin’s mother Wanda who inspired her to first donate when she was a senior in high school. Wanda worked as a registered nurse and volunteered at many blood drives.

“She instilled in me that this was an important thing to do,” Kilmartin said.

Kilmartin counted at least three donations she made in 2023. She has given blood every year at the Holiday Blood Drive for at least a decade.

She loves the Red Cross blood donor app for its ease in making appointments and for tracking where her donated blood is going. Her generosity for helping others is clearly genuine.   

“I have a few friends who because of health problems, are unable to donate. I feel like there’s no reason for me not to,” Kilmartin said. “I’m relatively healthy and so, for those people who can’t give, who would love to give but are unable to, that’s why I give.”

The month of January is often a hard time for the Red Cross to collect the blood needed for hospitals and patients. Holiday get-togethers, school breaks, seasonal illness and winter weather can have negative impacts on drives and donor availability and can lead to a drawdown in the nation’s blood supply.

Kilmartin encourages those who are eligible to “try at least once to give.”

“I would love to see more people giving, more young people giving,” she said. “There’s always a need for blood. If you are able and you want to help people, it’s a relatively easy way to give back.”