South Carolina couple shares why they volunteer with the Red Cross of South Carolina.
Every day, the Red Cross of South Carolina supplies potentially life-saving blood to hospitals across the state. Right now, there is a need for volunteers to be the ones to deliver that blood.
The Red Cross collects and distributes about 40% of our nation’s blood supply. When you deliver blood, platelets or other blood products to a hospital, you’re delivering hope to a person when they need it most.
“It absolutely makes a difference. It made a difference to my family and it made a difference to my son,” said Brandy Vallance.
Brandy and James Vallance are from Charleston, South Carolina. They just started as Red Cross Blood Transportation Specialists in 2019
“It couldn’t be anymore simple. It is very easy to do. It is not even something you have to do every day if you do not have the availability,” said James.
To understand why the Vallance’s chose to give back in this way, you must go back to February of 2019. Their son, who was working in Ohio, was in a car accident in that left him seriously injured. He had skull fractures, broken sternum, rib fractures, broken clavicle, pelvic fractures, a collapsed lung and other injuries.
“He was life-flighted to Huntington, West Virginia and we were in Charleston. We had to make the 8 hour drive up there and he almost died,” said Brandy. “It is obviously something you never want to go through. It was emotionally devastating, and it was hard to process in the hours that followed and seeing him in the hospital”
“For me personally, it really didn’t hit me until after,” said James.
Their son had a long road to recovery and part of that journey was blood transfusions.
“He needed blood, and obviously there were blood donors and he received blood that day and he really needed it,” said Brandy.
As their son continues to recover, the couple decided to find a meaningful way to give back.
“To be able to jump in and do something about it, really helped me a lot to heal emotionally and say, ‘ok, this happened in my life, but I can do something, I can make a difference,’” said Brandy. “There wasn’t a hole there because of the life-saving work that the Red Cross does with blood donating and then getting that blood to the hospitals.”
About This Position
Volunteer Transportation Specialists deliver life-saving blood products from Red Cross distribution facilities to hospitals, using a Red Cross-owned vehicle. We hope you can commit to 2-4 shifts per month (or more if you can!). Typical shifts are about 4 hours.
You’ll also need to meet these important qualifications:
To apply for this opportunity, click here.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.