Give blood: GWCCA efforts support American Red Cross
Every 8 minutes the American Red Cross (ARC) responds to someone in crisis.
Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, home fires, flooding, and other natural disasters can strike at any time, in any place in the world.
In the last two weeks alone, dangerous storms have wreaked havoc from the Midwest to the Northeast, resulting in at least 10 deaths.
The Peach State, of course, is not immune.
In light of the storms that ravaged south Georgia last fall, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) decided to increase its disaster-response efforts and formed another community partnership with the American Red Cross.
To inaugurate this newly-forged affiliation, the GWCCA has hosted two Red Cross-sponsored blood drives thus far in 2019 on the Authority’s 220-plus acre downtown Atlanta campus. After going through a brief health screening, GWCCA team members were prepped by nurses and donated blood. Afterward, donors were given snacks and beverages and checked by the nurses before going back to work.
The GWCCA donated a combined total of 34 pints of blood, impacting 102 lives.
More blood drives are already on the calendar to support the life-saving work performed by the American Red Cross.
Founded in 1881 by Nurse Clara Barton, the ARC was born of a desire to help those wounded on the battlefield. After tending to the medical needs of the Union soldiers, Barton traveled to Europe where she learned of the Geneva, Switzerland-based association called the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Upon returning to the United States, she began working to involve her own country in this network. Thus, the ARC was created.
The American Red Cross, an independent, voluntary relief movement, responds to more than 62,000 disasters every year. And, 95
- Overnight shelter stays
- Meals and snacks
- Distribution of emergency supplies
- Health services including lifesaving blood and blood products
- Mental health services
- Trained Red Cross employees and volunteers
- Emergency response vehicles
No other organization does this – not the U.S. government nor other charities. From small house fires to multi-state natural disasters, the American Red Cross goes wherever they are needed. They make it possible for individuals to have clean water, safe shelter
