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Summertime is in full swing, and fans of the season are happily immersed in all its pleasures, from cookouts and poolside chilling to beach weekends and vacation trips.
But there are downsides to summer, too. At the American Red Cross, no one needs reminding of the downsides – because one of them is the summertime blood shortage.
At the same time that regular blood donors are out of town or on tighter schedules, summer activities lead to higher numbers of accidents and serious injuries requiring blood transfusions.
This is the time of year, in other words, when demand for blood traditionally outstrips supply.
In June, the Red Cross kicked off an awareness campaign designed to help close that annual supply gap. Known as "Missing Types," the campaign highlights the need for more donors using promotions and ads that depict missing letters in the message – specifically, the letters A, B and O that make up the main blood groups.
Held at the Red Cross' Emerywood Parkway location, the kick-off spotlighted donor recruitment efforts as well as the needs of recipients such as accident victims and children fighting cancer – along with some alarming statistics (only three out of 100 people across the U.S. donate blood, but someone needs blood every two seconds).
The event also featured remarks from Roger W. Gardner, district manager for donor recruitment in the Central Virginia blood services region.
A regular donor himself, Gardner said he acquired the habit early in life – long before he worked for the Red Cross – thanks to a highly dedicated role model by the name of Judson Morgan Gardner.
"My dad was a World War II veteran," Gardner told the crowd at Emerywood, noting that his father flew C-47s in the U.S. Army Air Corps. "He had many opportunities to see the lifesaving benefits of blood donation.
"My dad also felt pretty lucky that he came home alive," Gardner went on. "So when he got out of the service, he thought the best way to honor those who didn't come home was to give blood."
Gardner pointed out that in that era, giving blood was a far cry from today's high-tech process, with all its safety precautions, quality control and advanced techniques.
In fact, when Gardner's father would relate the story of his first blood donation, he recalled that he was approached by a military nurse as he smoked a cigarette – an act that would be inconceivable while donating today but was common in those days of free distribution.
According to Roger Gardner, "The nurse asked my dad, 'How are you feeling?' and he said he felt pretty good.
"So she came back with a bottle, a hose, and a needle," Gardner said. "A needle about the size of what we'd use today to pump up a basketball or football! And she took a pint."
Despite the dubious circumstances of that first donation, Judson Gardner went on to become a devoted donor.
One might even say he gave with military precision – every 56 days (the minimum period between donations) – for most of his life until he died in 2017.
"We've found his calendars from years ago," said his son, "and they always had notations of blood drives and appointments to donate on them.
"He gave more than 300 units of blood," Gardner added. "I don't know how many gallons."
And if his father were alive for the Missing Types campaign, he would not hesitate to throw himself whole-heartedly into the movement, Gardner said – even if it meant omitting key letters in his signature, as Red Cross employees have done.
"My dad was nicknamed 'Bugs.' So [in Missing Types format], that would be 'Ugs.'"
With a chuckle, Gardner admitted, "He wouldn't like that much.
"But he would like the idea of giving blood."
For details about donating, visit redcrossblood.org.
