By D.J. Reiter
There is a good chance that somewhere in America today, one person will save another
person’s life. They will never meet. They will never know each other’s names. The
person doing the saving may spend less than an hour doing it. And then they’ll probably
get up, have a snack, and go home.
Right now, the United States is experiencing a serious blood shortage. The American
Red Cross declared a national blood crisis this summer after donations fell to a
four-year seasonal low. The organization, which supplies roughly 40 percent of the
nation’s blood, says someone in the United States needs blood about every two
seconds.
Those numbers sound enormous. But blood donation is actually one of the most
personal forms of generosity imaginable. No factory makes blood. There is no
warehouse where we can manufacture more when supplies run low. Every unit sitting in
a hospital refrigerator came from another human being who decided to give it.
Think about that for a moment.
Someone involved in a serious car accident may survive because a stranger donated
blood two weeks earlier:
A child undergoing cancer treatment may receive platelets from someone who stopped
at a blood drive after work.
A mother experiencing complications during childbirth may receive blood from someone
who had no idea, when they rolled up their sleeve, whose life their donation would
eventually touch.
The donor doesn’t get to choose. That’s part of what makes it so remarkable.
We live in a time when Americans are constantly sorted into categories. Age.
Geography. Profession. Income. Background. Interests. Beliefs. Blood doesn’t care
about any of that.
A student at Ohio State can help a student at the University of Michigan.
A college student can help a retiree.
A Republican can help a Democrat.
A Red Sox fan can even help a Yankees fan.
Some things are bigger than our differences.
This is one of them.
And Americans do this every day. Not because cameras are watching. Not because
they’ll receive an award. Most will never learn what happened to the blood they
donated. They simply know somebody needs it.
This summer, that quiet system of generosity is under strain. Blood organizations across
the country have warned that donations have fallen while hospitals still need a
dependable supply for surgeries, emergencies, cancer treatments, childbirth, chronic
illnesses, and countless other situations.
The Red Cross has responded by launching a five-year, $300 million effort to strengthen
and modernize America’s blood supply. But money alone cannot solve the problem.
Eventually, somebody still has to sit in the chair. That may be the most interesting thing
about blood donation. Modern life has made it possible to outsource almost everything.
We can have groceries delivered. We can ask a computer to write an email. We can
summon a car from our phones. We can talk to someone on the other side of the planet
instantly. But we haven’t invented an app that can replace the person sitting in that
chair.
Sometimes another human being simply needs you.
There are examples of Americans responding right now: College communities are
turning donation into friendly competition. The “We Give Blood” drive has brought
together all 18 Big Ten schools in an effort to encourage students, alumni, and fans to
donate during the national shortage.
Across the country, local organizations are holding blood drives in community centers,
churches, schools and businesses. People are walking in. Rolling up their sleeves.
Giving something that cannot be bought. Then walking back out into their lives, and
something is reassuring about that.
National news tends to focus on the moments when Americans fail each other. Those
stories matter. But they aren’t the whole story.
Every day, Americans also perform millions of small acts of cooperation that barely
register as news. Someone gives blood. Someone signs up to become an organ donor.
Someone volunteers at a food pantry. Someone brings dinner to a neighbor going
through a difficult time. Someone stops on the side of the road because another driver
needs help. Someone gives money to a classroom they’ve never visited.
Someone sees a stranger struggling and asks a very simple question: “Do you need a
hand?”
None of these actions will solve every problem facing the country. They don’t need to.
They solve one person’s problem, and sometimes that’s enough.
There will be plenty of things competing for our attention as summer winds down.
But somewhere today, inside a hospital room most of us will never see, a bag of
donated blood will hang beside a patient. The patient won’t know who donated it. The
donor won’t know who received it.
Two strangers will briefly become part of the same story. One needed help. The other
showed up.
For all the complicated things we can say about America right now, that is something
worth remembering.
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