Western New York Region

Finger Lakes Couple Estimates They've Donated Blood 180 Times - Each

As the sun has set on another Red Cross month, it is important to reflect on the people and connections that allow the Red Cross to fulfill its lifesaving mission. 

It's likely you've heard the story. In a tradition first begun in 1943 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, presidents ever since have declared March as American Red Cross Month. It is a time when the Red Cross honors the volunteers who make up 90% of its workforce in order to fulfill a wide range of routine as well as sudden needs that are each in their own way very important to those the Red Cross serves.   

But so often we forget that carrying out such tasks involve a number of partnerships.  

Some of the partnerships are formal, like those surrounding agreements with facilities that can be counted on for setting up emergency shelters when severe emergencies leave people without a place to sleep or something to eat as they plan out their next steps. Others are less formal like those agreements with clubs or churches that provide space where a blood drive can be held.

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