Western New York Region

Spurred by the onset of the pandemic, Rochester blood researcher starts a new donation tradition

The days and weeks that followed the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 were filled with uncertainty. The day-to-day routines to which we’d been accustomed coming to a standstill as the world all but shut down as it eagerly awaited answers.

Educators and employers alike switched to virtual formats, forced to reassess the way in which they served the public with little notice. The American Red Cross and its partners were no exception. Like many organizations, we had to pivot in the wake of these changes both internally and externally to continue our mission-driven work of delivering help and hope, while maintaining a safe environment for our volunteer workforce and the people we are proud to serve.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Red Cross has experienced about a 10 percent drop in the number of blood donors and a 62 percent drop in blood drives at local schools and colleges, further contributing to what is now a crisis-level blood shortage nationwide. As a result, the nation’s blood supply levels are at their lowest levels in more than a decade. To add to that challenge, locally in 2021 alone, the number of first-time blood donors in our region dropped by more than 34 percent – largely due to the pandemic.

And then there’s Paul Kingsley.

After 60 years of volunteering, married DAT responders have no plans to slow down

Elizabeth Shook has been volunteering with the American Red Cross since she was 16 years old.

“My mother sort of dragged me into it to start with. So, it was a family thing,” she explained.

She started out as a water safety instructor before moving to training services, instructing others on CPR and First Aid. When getting down on the floor became too much, she made the transition to Disaster Cycle Services assisting with casework following disasters like home fires and then made the move to staff services.

In total, that “family thing” has spanned 60 years.

About ten years into it, she met and married her husband Bob who she then proceeded to “drag into it.”

“When I started, Beth always needed an extra person to make the class roster when she was teaching, so I ended up getting a lot of training,” Bob laughed.