Do Good

Boots & Blood: A Chance to Do Something Good

There are a lot of reasons to give blood. But I keep coming back to two.

The first is simple: someone is going to need it.

Maybe someday, that someone will be you. Or your mom. Your dad. Your grandparent. Your child. Someone you love may be in an emergency, recovering from an accident, facing surgery, or experiencing an unexpected medical complication and they may need blood to survive.

I’ve seen firsthand what it can mean when someone receives blood in an emergency. It can quite literally mean the difference between life and death. So when we give blood, we’re doing something remarkable. We’re giving a stranger a chance to go home to the people who love them.

But there’s another reason I love the idea of giving blood, and it has a little something to do with resilience.

When you donate, your body gets to work replenishing what you gave. It responds by making new blood cells and restoring your blood supply. There’s something about that process that feels like a pretty good reminder: sometimes resilience means giving something away and trusting your body and yourself to rebuild.

Mostly, though, giving blood is simply an opportunity to think about your neighbor. You may never know whose life you helped. You may never meet them. But somewhere, someone’s family may get more time with someone they love because you showed up and gave a little of what you had.

So if you are able to give blood, tomorrow is a pretty good day to do something good.

Put on your boots. Give a little blood. Leave a little better.