Thank You for your Christ-like act
The blood drive that was held in Royal City last week was a near record performance. The total donation was 173 units, seven shy of the record for a single drawing in eastern Washington (Richland). However the Royal City goal of 150 units was surpassed, as was the goal of 450 for the entire 4-city (Othello, Mattawa, Warden and Royal City) campaign.
Thank you, thank you Royal slope community. Your generosity in our recent blood Drive was over the top. More than 200 people stepped forward to donate blood. Overall, we were able to get 173 units.
A big thanks goes out to the New Life Fellowship Church for opening up its building for the drive. Pastor Lewis and members were most cooperative, supportive and kind. We also had donations from the Catholics, the Methodists, the Nazarenes, the Baptists and the LDS.
I realize all are not Christians. But most of our community is Christian, and I want to share a thought about a symbolism I cannot get out of my mind. Jesus Christ shed his blood that all may have eternal life. By us sharing a little of our blood so that others may live is a Christ-like act that God would be pleased with.
I saw many heroes that day, some that stand out in my mind were some young girls who came for the first time. You could see fear in their faces, but they were brave and stepped up. Others who had a bad experience before put that behind them and donated. It was heartwarming to see the brave people of the Royal community. It made me proud once again to be part of this community.
When I was asked to be the chairman of the Royal City drive, I was a bit overwhelmed with a goal of 150 units. In the past, 50 units was considered a big success. I had my doubts if that was possible. One week before the big day, I was a bit discouraged. After several weeks of effort, I had only 73 people signed up.
My best effort was not good enough. Then a half dozen people with great enthusiasm stepped up and kind of took over. By the night before the drive we had 233 people committed. I am grateful to those folks who made it a success.
I also need to thank all the people who helped that day with set up, clean up, registration, kitchen help, escorts, which involved 25-30 people. Then there were food donations. They were great as well.
I also have to thank the Red Cross because they brought enough staff to take care of everyone who wanted to donate. They even brought eight in from Portland to help out. They could have handled at least 50 more people.
I also have to thank my wife who was a great support and help. She not only donated blood but put in 18 hours on the day of the drive.