Sheppard members present arms at two-day blood drive

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Several hundred red-blooded Sheppard members turned out Sept. 18-19 to donate 359 units during the American Red Cross' two-day campaign at the community center.

The disaster aid organization typically tries to have at least four drives on base annually because of the willingness of donors base-wide.

"We always have large goals," said Janet Jenkins, the manager of Donor Services for Texas. "They always do an excellent job of getting people signed up."

This drive proved to be no different. The goal for Sept. 18 was 75 units, and donors exceeded that goal, producing 112 units. The mark was set high for Sept. 19, with 200 units as the target. Yet again, Sheppard members stepped up, presented arms and donated 247 units of blood.

Although most, or all, of the blood donated will be used inside the nations' borders, some, like Airman 1st Class Jesse Paulino, a 25-year-old native of San Diego, looked at the bigger picture when he decided to donate.

"I just wanted to help out the people in Iraq," the aerospace ground equipment Airman-in-Training said. "I wanted to donate my blood here because I can't do anything over there."

Regardless who the donations go to, Airman Paulino said it's the least Sheppard members could do.

There is always a pressing need for blood nationally, said Jackie Hamm, the director of donor recruitment at the Wichita Falls Red Cross office.

"It's a rollercoaster," she said. "The need definitely goes up and down."

A figure that is staggering is the low number of eligible donors who show up at drives. Ms. Hamm said less than 5 percent of eligible donors - estimated at 37 percent nationally - will roll up their sleeves and actually donate blood.

Although the national figure is low, Ms. Hamm said she never worries about the number of donations from Sheppard.

"Absolutely not," she said. "They go above and beyond every time we ask them."

Tech. Sgt. Jason Icmat, the installation point-of-contact for the drive and a military training leader at the 361st Training Squadron, said some hopeful donors had to be turned away because of the amount of people stepping up.

"We have a lot of people out there who care," he said.

For those who missed out on donating this go round won't have to wait too terribly long. The next blood drive is scheduled for Dec. 4-5.