I Gave a Gallon

For some reason I've been missing every local blood drive for the past year.  How has it been a whole year?  I get the postcards and the phone calls, and I have every intention of going and donating blood - and then I completely forget about it until it's almost over or even until the next day.

But I finally remembered to attend a blood drive and give blood on Friday. I wrote it in Sharpie on the calendar when I got the postcard.  It was hard to miss.

It was my 8th time donating blood, and that means I've now given a gallon.  I hadn't realized I was that close to the gallon mark until I got a postcard from the Blood Center last month encouraging me to donate and letting me know I had reached that milestone, or would reach that milestone with my next donation.  The postcard also gave me information on how to request my free t-shirt to celebrate that milestone.

Of course it's not about the t-shirt.  Or the free lunch and snacks afterward.  Donating blood is something I can do to help people, and I really need to make a point of going and donating when there's a blood drive in my area.  I could've reached that gallon mark a long time ago if only I'd been paying attention.  I just didn't realized it had been an entire year since I last donated.  An entire year!  I don't want to wait so long next time.

How about you?  Do you donate blood?  Why or why not?