The Next Generation of Lifesavers
We're changing the world, one campus at a time.
On Wednesday, Illinois Wesleyan University students showed up to give 12 units of much-needed blood. The Illinois Wesleyan Student Senate drive was led by our campus Ambassador Macy Iwanus, who helped recruit blood donors and a few more Ambassadors, Ashley Oiler and Riya Patel. With their help, we'll have more blood drives, more blood donors, and will even start a new blood club on campus!
It's all part of our ABO Initiative, which was created to engage the next generation of lifesavers. Ambassadors are student leaders who organize and promote blood drives, welcome first-time donors, amplify our message, and build a culture of giving on campus. They gain community service hours and leadership experience, while building a strong resume. Our goal is to have registered student organizations (RSOs) called blood clubs on campuses across our four-state region.
“Saving lives with ImpactLife allows me to make a difference for those in the hospital that need blood," explained Macy. "I lost my mentor to leukemia and wanted to create meaningful change for IWU and my community. This mission is so close to my heart because it can be so easy to save a life without physically being there. Although I want to go into the medical field as a physician's assistant, I can encourage others to help save a life in the simplest form."
Teeing Up For Charly
We will always Give Like Charly.
Last Saturday, we were proud to help sponsor the Give Like Charly Golf Outing in Bettendorf, Iowa, bringing 288 golfers together to honor Charly Erpelding and carry forward her legacy of generosity.
Charly was a Bettendorf High School student who bravely battled cancer as a young child, only to face the disease again during high school. She shared her story with us over the years, and was so grateful to blood donors for helping patients like her.
She passed away October 10, 2022, not long after being named valedictorian and speaking at graduation, but her spirit of giving continues to make a difference.
Through Give Like Charly, our community turns that spirit into action, including an annual blood drive in December that brings in more than 100 donors each year. This year's drive is set for December 19. Learn more about it here.
Double Giving, Double Impact
The work you do is helping more than humans.
Through our Good Giving program, blood donors can choose to pay forward their donor reward to other nonprofits making a difference in our communities.
Last Friday, we celebrated that generosity with a check presentation for the Animal Protective League of Springfield. A tornado damaged their building leaving many of their homeless animals displaced. Thanks to blood donors, we were able to give the shelter $2,110.
Learn more about this story by our friends at WICS NewsChannel 20
Celebrating Healthcare Quality Week
![Contributor: Alli Woods, Director, Quality & Regulatory Affairs]() |
CONTRIBUTED BY:
Alli Woods, Director, Quality & Regulatory Affairs
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This week we've been celebrating Healthcare Quality Week, a national recognition of the people who make safety and quality part of everything healthcare does. At a blood center, that's all of us: every donor screened, every unit labeled, every product released is a quality moment.
I also want to use this week to recognize the QSS teams I'm lucky to work with every day:
- Audit Support: reviews the paperwork from every drive and center so our records are complete, accurate, and inspection-ready.
- Quality Support Services: keeps our quality systems running behind the scenes and supports every department along the way.
- Quality Compliance Coordinator: helps keep us aligned with FDA, AABB, and CLIA requirements, and audit-ready year-round.
- Donor Advocate: makes sure our donors' voices, questions, and concerns are heard and followed up on.
Quality fun fact: The first hospital blood bank in the U.S. opened at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 1937. Quality and safety standards have been evolving ever since, and every one of you is part of that story.
If one of these teams has helped you out, caught something before it became a problem, or answered a question you didn't know who to ask, please share the praise and thank them for their work.
Thank you for everything you do to keep our blood supply safe for patients.
KSHE Winter Blood Drive Coming Soon!
There aren't many blood centers (or radio stations, for that matter) that regularly see their blood drive T-shirts sold as collectors' items on e-Bay, but that's just one of the things that makes the KSHE blood drive special. If you've ever worked the T-shirt table in July and December, you get it, right?
The KSHE audience has been lining up to give blood and get their shirt every year since 1984. We're making plans for our next KSHE Winter Blood Drive, with drives scheduled at 13 locations beginning Friday, Dec. 11 across the St. Louis region. Here's a sneak peek at our next KSHE T-shirt, included with a gallery of past designs.