Oklahoma Blood Institute

Saturday August 14th, 2010

I decided to coordinate a public blood drive at my place of work in conjuntion with another community event we had. This endeavor was definitely inspired by my younger sister and I can't think of a better way of explaining my desire to do this than by sharing her speech she gave at the Oklahoma Blood Institute's Blood Thanks & Giving Day:

“In all things it is better to hope than to despair.”-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. On May 21, 2008, one week before I turned 16, I was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare adolescent bone cancer. Before this occurrence, this quote would not have meant much to me. Now, as a cancer survivor, I cannot think of more perfect words to encompass what I went through. Over a period of 14 months, I received 14 rounds of chemotherapy, ranging from 3-to-5 day stays in the hospital, and 10 weeks of radiation. I had 19 blood transfusions, 11 platelet transfusions, and had two additional hospital visits for a week each time, once due to a fever spike and once for shingles. My treatment was by no means easy, and there were many times I honestly believed I could not continue. Although it was a long, rough road to recovery, with the support of my loved ones and every ounce of inner strength I have, I completed my treatment. Then, on July 22, 2009, I was told I was cancer-free and just recently celebrated my first year of being a cancer survivor.
The regimen I went through saved my life, but it was also very hard on my body. The combination of the chemotherapy and radiation severely affected my blood counts, causing me to need 19 blood transfusions and 11 platelet transfusions. These transfusions were vital to my recovery. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to continue with my treatment which could’ve easily changed the outcome.
My blood transfusions saved my life, and it is all thanks to generous donors like yourselves. As a donor, you may not be able to comprehend the effects of your donation. I’m here today as representation of the outcome of your donations. I finished my senior year of high school including my senior prom and accepted academic scholarship to Westminster College. I now look forward to attending college in the fall and ultimately pursuing a law degree. I, along with many other blood recipients, want to thank all donors from the bottom of my heart. You saved my life, and I am forever grateful.
Again, without blood donors, I would not have lived to graduate, have fun summer adventures as a teenager nor to see this special day. I want to recognize each group of loyal donors…those of you who take the time regularly to donate blood for people like me. I want to thank each of you for the time and blood you donated that has helped me in my battle. I thank you for saving my life and giving me a future to look forward to.

My sister is alive thanks to 48 local blood donors, and while most of us will never meet the people’s lives we save, I hope that this sticks with you and that you realize what a difference you can make. You don’t have to look far to find people’s lives who have been changed by the generosity of blood donors. They are our family, coworkers, neighbors, and friends.

I encourage everyone who is eligible to donate to do so. You never know when it'll be somebody you love.

U R Special

Friday August 13th, 2010

So it's been a while since I decided to start this project and now it's officially underway! I am a member of the Edmond Young Professionals and they chose to serve U R Special as one of their service projects for the year so I jumped on the opportunity to help out. I spent 3 hours helping little girls find shoes for the new school year.

U R Special exists to foster self-esteem and healthy lifestyles in needy and at-risk children. They do so by providing new, one-of-a-kind outfits of clothing for the children of Edmond, Oklahoma, and distributing it to them in ways that are celebratory, interactive, and affirming.

I helped close to 20 little girls pick out a new pair of shoes and it was such a worthwhile experience. It was definitely a lot harder than it sounds though! We were in a very hot, small space and some girls went through 10 or more pairs before making up their minds. But I guess that's girls for ya : )

U R Special has only one paid employee, a part-time director, so volunteers are the backbone of the organization. To learn more about U R Special check out their website here: http://urspecialedmond.org/index.php