[staff] Global Kids: why our blood is unacceptable
I have been a blood donor for most of my life, having been blessed with large veins and no squeamishness around needles. It's one of the easiest ways to give that might literally save another person's life. Plus I love the free cookies and juice at the end.
Recently I got contacted by one of the New York blood banks notifying me that they need help finding donors during the summer months, which usually are subject to a smaller number of available donors and a resultant dip in the city's blood supply. The blood bank suggested that people organize a blood donation day at their work, church or community center.
Trying to organize one at Global Kids taught me a lot about what kind of staff we have here. In short: we are tremendously diverse, giving, and almost to a person ineligible to be blood donors.
The answer I got from nearly everyone in our 50-person office was the same: "I'd love to give but...." i.e.
- I'd love to give but I just returned from [insert name of developing world country here]
- I'd love to give but I'm not a US citizen
- I'd love to give but I am getting a tattoo this weekend
- I'd love to give but I had malaria once from backpacking in the rain forest
So while I felt bad that Global Kids was not likely to be able to organize its own blood drive, I was again impressed by how multi-cultural, well-traveled, and cool the people that I work with are.
