American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Heading to The Country Fest? Stop by the Red Cross tent for your chance to Get in the Pit for a Purpose courtesy of our friends at 94.9 WQMX! Tap this link for more info: https://americanredcross.donordrive.com/countryfest2026

What a day at Progressive Field!

Thanks to everyone who came to donate for the Cleveland Guardians Blood Drive today!

Jude and Rachel made the trip all the way from Erie County to donate today. Christine, a Power Red donor, has been donating since high school. Cleveland Police Third District officers John and Jeff stopped in to help save lives. Rich, from the Guardians and our Northeast Ohio Board of Directors, is a regular donor and big supporter of the mission. And Keyna just joined our team two weeks ago and is already making an impact!

We are so grateful for partners like the Guardians, CLE Inspires and the Cleveland Clinic who make our lifesaving mission possible.

If you missed today's drive, there are plenty of other opportunities to donate! Just tap the link, type in your zip code and find a blood drive or donation center near you: redcrossblood.org

ICYMI: We are proud to partner with the Cleveland Guardians once again for our annual Guardians Blood Drive Tuesday, June 16, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Progressive Field. Come step up to the plate and give blood!

Amplify your summer fun, on us! All presenting donors will receive:
⚾ Two free Guardians tickets
👕 Commemorative Guardians T-shirt
🧧 $15 e-gift card to an online merchant of their choice
🤞 Chance to win one of two $7,500 gift cards

Visit redcrossblood.org to schedule your appointment and use sponsor code Guardians.

Thank you to the Guardians and the Cleveland Clinic for their support to our lifesaving mission. We'll see you at the ball park!

What do Marisol Roman in Solon, Alice Hamlin in Findlay and Ramesh Rumba in Bedford Heights have in common with a very special group of millions of people around the world?

They’re volunteer blood donors! They embody the truth: “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.”

“I donated to give someone a chance to live,” Ramesh said. It’s that simple.

Today, World Blood Donor Day, we celebrate the selfless generosity of donors like Ramesh, Alice and Marisol and others across northern Ohio for their lifesaving gifts. Across the U.S., the American Red Cross supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood supply, collecting some 4.7 million blood donations and 1.2 million platelet donations a year.

“What would you want someone to do if it was someone you loved (who needed blood)?” said donor Valerie Purdie of Rocky River. “Life can change at any time and the little things we do can end up being big things for someone else.”

Paige King of Olmstead Falls is living proof: She donated blood a few times in high school, not knowing that a bone-shattering motorcycle crash was in her future. She made it through massive blood loss and multiple surgeries with repeated transfusions, “from (volunteer) donors like myself.

“I will never forget how grateful I am…I am forever grateful for the opportunity to donate.”

Marshall Campos of Warren could have been one of Paige’s donors, unknowingly. “(No particular person) really motivated me to donate blood. I generally just encouraged myself to do something good.”

Decades ago in Findlay, a friend encouraged Alice Hamlin to start giving blood. Then her dad was diagnosed with leukemia and she learned about the continual need for blood transfusions, even though he didn’t need them. “Eighteen gallons later, I plan to continue donating as long as I’m able,” she said.

Marisol Roman’s motivation to donate was even more personal: “I got plasma when I lost my baby at three months of pregnancy…Do it. You’ll feel good,” she said.

The campaign to raise awareness of the constant need for blood points out that every donation is more than a medical act: It’s a powerful expression of solidarity, compassion and collective responsibility.

In America, we’re privileged to have a safe and solid supply of blood, but it depends on individual actions. Despite more than 62% of our population being eligible, only about three percent actually donate.

Summer is an especially challenging time to maintain the supply, with vacation travel, school breaks and extreme heat disrupting blood drives.

Remember, every two seconds, someone needs blood. To schedule your lifesaving donation, go to redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.

Over the past several weeks, our Northern Ohio staff and volunteers have collected 1,300 pounds of goods, including clothes, shoes, books, and more.

This past week, those donations were dropped off at Savers in Brook Park where the weight of those donations was converted to dollars that will go directly to the lifesaving mission of the Red Cross.

A special shoutout to our volunteer Ben White who loaded up our Emergency Response Vehicle with all of those donations!