Freed to Bleed: Taking down a Goliath

Freed to Bleed: Taking down a Goliath

TL;DR

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Waxhaw Blood Drive

Five Stones Church

1117 Cuthbertson Rd

Saturday, January 30

09:00 AM – 01:30 PM

https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?order=DATE&range=10&zipSponsor=F3

Hey if you haven’t heard we’re having another blood drive; and you don’t want to be like me.  I registered for the last blood drive but had family commitment come up and I had to cancel. Couple of phone calls and conversations later and I’m scheduled to Q the next blood drive. So you should HC and follow through, otherwise you’re Qing the next one!

So, I have a WHY I donate but I didn’t have a how to Q a blood drive – that’s where my man Turnbuckle comes in.

Let’s start with my WHY…I’m O-Neg and I’ve been donating blood for more than 25 years.  I didn’t know my blood type until I joined the Army; they put it right on your I.D. tags. It wasn’t long after I arrived at my first duty station that my unit had a blood drive; that’s when I discovered that my blood type is considered universal – anyone can use it.  So my blood had the opportunity to help lots of service members and their families. I really don’t care for needles and I’ve been intimidated to donate on more than one occasion, but I’ve donated whole blood, power red, and platelets over the years. I’ve had really great experiences and super terrible ones too, but as an O-Neg I feel that it’s a way for me to serve others – especially after I learned that O-Neg is often used in trauma and emergency situations where they don’t have time to type the patient’s blood.

Blood is a perishable product that can only come from volunteer blood donors. With someone in the U.S. needing blood every two seconds, blood products must be constantly replenished, according to the Red Cross.  The ARC urges community members to donate blood and help ensure that patients in local hospitals have a supply of blood ready and waiting before an emergency occurs. When my dad was in the hospital and needed blood I thought that I could just donate right then and there, but I was told that they could only give him blood that had been screened and tested.  When Goodfella’s wife was in need of a blood transfusion, someone’s donation was ready and waiting to be used. With a simple blood donation, we have the ability to help save the life of someone who could be a friend, neighbor, or loved one. Blood is routinely transfused to patients with cancer and other diseases, premature babies, organ transplant recipients and trauma victims.  Donors with all blood types are needed, especially those with types O negative, A negative and B negative. Part of the F3 mission is to invigorate male community leadership, and with this blood drive we have an opportunity to step forward as leaders to help our community and save lives.

Fuse Box started Waxhaw off on the right foot and Turnbuckle took the bull by the horns for the second round, so they partnered with me for round three.  Turnbuckle has been amazing at connecting with the ARC and finding a place to hold the drive but he asked me to stretch myself and be the marketing department and donor whisperer. It’s been challenging (I really don’t know how Zin does it) and I’ve really stunk at it a few times, but I can always go back to my WHY – serving others.

So 2020 was full of Goliaths: quarantine, civil unrest, job loss, mental and physical health challenges, etc.  F3 Waxhaw has partnered with Five Stones Church to take down a different kind of Goliath, one started by F3 Nation in 2020 – the launch of a Freed to Bleed campaign to collect 10,000 pints of blood by December 31, 2021 in celebration of our 10 year anniversary. Through our two completed blood drives, F3 Waxhaw has collected 111 pints for the American Red Cross and we’re hoping to collect another 50 or so pints this Saturday. It’s going to take PAX willing to Hard Commit, EH friends and family, and follow through. The Red Cross isn’t expecting us to use up all their supplies; they expect some people to cancel or be no-shows, and others to be deferred. Let’s show them that F3 is different!  If you’re interested in donating and you cannot find any slots available online, then give us your contact information and be ready to step up and answer the call. Not sure if you can donate, come in and check your eligibility – stick around for some 2nd F and volunteer where needed.

I thought that it might be fun to add a little challenge in there too, so I took the time to look at the donors and donations from the last two Waxhaw drives and created a scoreboard. You earn a point for every Waxhaw pint donated. You earn a point for stepping out of your comfort zone and being a First Time Donor at a Waxhaw blood drive. You earn a point for every EH’d Waxhaw pint donated – you can only earn points for the non-Waxhaw Pax donors you EH’d.

Here’s the link to see where you stand: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KiVW3TkLZzj0JLdrw-ceGay0OK46aLfpLCqWLx0Ni8w/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you for the opportunity to lead a great group of brothers!