Red Cross Anniversary

My pin after reaching 13 gal. 11/30/20

My introduction to the American Red Cross happened when my mom took on the task of making 50 smocks for people working and volunteering with blood donations.

She was a professional seamstress but also volunteered with the Red Cross. I don't recall if this was a job or just something she did.

I recall helping with delivering the smocks to the headquarters in downtown Janesville. 

My connection began in college when I gave blood the first time. I wasn't looking forward to the needle but wanted to help people. During my time at Drake I gave blood several times.

I started giving again when we moved to Janesville in 1989, going to various blood drives as they popped up around the area. One blood drive stood out because Culver's Frozen Custard was the post-donation treat.

Since then I've given regularly. While we lived in Indianapolis the place doing blood drives was the Indiana Blood Center. When we returned to Wisconsin in 2012, I also returned to the American Red Cross.

Today is the 143rd anniversary of the organization started by Clara Barton, who became well-known for the nursing she did for soldiers during the Civil War. She was called the 'Angel of the Battlefield.'

She helped during wartime in Europe where she learned about the International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and became determined to bring it to America as an emergency relief organization. She was 51 when it was founded in 1881. She ran it until retiring in 1904.

It didn't start drawing blood from civilians until the 1940s.

While it's a huge organization it also operates at the local level, responding to fires and local disasters as well as turning out for the headline-making events like the storms that have been marching across the country this spring.

Join me in wishing them an anniversary by giving blood, volunteering in some way, or making a gift to support their efforts. Happy Anniversary!