It’s true: you will meet some amazing people, you will have “a-ha” moments that will stick with you for the rest of your life, your adrenaline will soar, you will learn a ton and you’ll face long stretches of tedium punctuated by a flurry of activity.
All these moments are yours to experience if you respond to a disaster as an American Red Cross volunteer.
Read moreTrigger Warning: Graphic Surgery Descriptions
If it’s true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, then Patti Childress must be Superwoman. The dynamic, assertive strawberry-blonde has had 40 surgeries over the past 29 years; yet, she still maintains an incredibly demanding schedule as a Blood Services account manager with the American Red Cross, where she’s responsible for getting blood drives booked and done.
“Yes,” she said, “it would be a lot for anyone to do,” especially given the huge territory she is responsible for across the Northern California Coastal Region. But she is committed to encouraging, scheduling, planning, organizing, overseeing and finalizing blood drives as a way to thank all the people who were willing to donate the blood and platelets she needed to save her life.
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She was a gifted athlete, captain of her team at Scotts Valley High School and an All-American at California Polytechnic State University. Intelligent and having acquired her master’s degree, she worked in New York City with a leading accounting firm before marrying the love of her life and landing her dream job in sports marketing in Portland.
In January 2023, Kelly Harris climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, with her mother, Diane, and they reached the summit — 19,341 feet up. Shortly thereafter, Kelly was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Kelly began chemotherapy and eventually underwent radiation, all while continuing to work.
“It took a toll on her body,” Diane said. Kelly received platelets and several blood transfusions over the course of her treatment. Realizing how dependent patients are on having a sufficient blood supply for this vital treatment, Kelly organized her own blood drive.
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In the white, sterile halls of a hospital – any hospital, let alone one on a military base – you might expect to find expert medical care. But thanks to the American Red Cross, at the David Grant Medical Center (DGMC) on Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, you’ll also find bright, cheery and helpful volunteers.
The Red Cross has a special partnership with the medical center where teens and other volunteers “are able to augment the hospital experience for patients, providing warm human interaction while allowing hospital staff to focus primarily on their medical duties,” says Nikki Rowe, Red Cross director of Service to the Armed Forces and International Services for the Northern California Coastal Region. Nikki has been managing the relationship with the DGMC for several years as part of her responsibilities.
When Naomi Stamper was about to turn 70 years young, her friends asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate. “I didn’t want to just go out to lunch with my lady friends,” she said. “I wanted to do something important.”
So, she asked her friends to give blood, with the goal of getting 70 donations. She arranged for her synagogue to do a 70th birthday blood drive for her friends, and the word spread to friends and family across the country. “We got over 70 donations at that time, and the donations kept on growing,” Naomi, who is now 83, said. “People kept going and donating blood for years, like my friend Linda.”
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Bill Sinn spent 35 years working for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 20 of which as the hospital’s blood bank manager or, officially, the blood bank’s lead technologist. Highly respected for his expertise in testing, matching, and preparing blood for transfusion to meet a variety of the hospital’s patients’ needs, Sinn is now a quiet, humble, and extremely skilled volunteer serving with the American Red Cross Biomedical Services department as a Transportation Specialist.
“He’s the blood bankers’ blood banker,” said Michael Gregory, a Red Cross board member and former staff member. “If I were having surgery, I would want the best person in charge of identifying the right match for my blood transfusion. That would have been Bill Sinn.”
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