By Jenny Farley

For most of us, finding one passion in life that excites us can provide a lifetime of reward. Ellen Silverberg-Brennan has several, including a long track record of giving blood, volunteering and doing intricate needlework.

Ellen started volunteering for the Red Cross after witnessing the organization in action.

“I had been with FEMA for many years and had seen the Red Cross working at disaster locations,” she said. She saw the Red Cross provide food, shelter and clothing to people who had lost everything.

The Red Cross recently awarded Ellen an Exceptional Biomedical Volunteer award for her work as a blood donor ambassador and an onboarding and training specialist.

“It made me feel great,” she said.

Ellen had a background in training and had donated blood since college in the 70’s, so becoming an ambassador was a “natural transition.”

Blood donor ambassadors help donors through the process of giving blood. Ellen speaks to volunteers who want to become ambassadors, describes what the job entails and then arranges a training session.

At donation sites as a blood donor ambassador, Ellen registers donors when they first arrive. She then makes sure donors go to the refreshment area after they are done, and she keeps a watchful eye on how they are doing.

“I tell them liquids are mandatory and snacks are optional,” she said.

After years of experience volunteering, Ellen is still impressed by the accomplishments of the Red Cross.

“The fact that the Red Cross provides 40% of the blood that’s donated in the U.S. That’s incredible!” Ellen said.

When Ellen decided she wanted to do more to help, she started donating platelets. Patients fighting illnesses like cancer critically need platelets to help their blood clot.

The process takes longer than a routine blood donation but to donors like Ellen, it’s worth it.

“I started donating platelets because it made me feel special. There are very few platelet donors compared to whole blood donors. It made me feel like I had gone the extra mile.”

Ellen has also volunteered at a Red Cross shelter. She said, “The shelter exposure makes you realize how fortunate you are that you have a house to go back to.”

During her time spent at a shelter, she paid special attention to the pets, especially the cats.

“I stopped at each enclosure, petted the cats and fed them some treats,” she said.

Ellen’s love of cats is on display at the Philadelphia Zoo, where she has volunteered as a docent for the past 13 years. Admittedly, these cats are bigger. The zoo has lions, tigers, leopards and even a jaguar. She gets to stand near the cats (when they want to come near), separated by glass.

“I really interact with the people. I love sharing what I know about the cats and answering people’s questions.”

Ellen does needlepoint projects that often feature cats. She learned how to needlepoint as a child, continuing a long tradition from her mother and her mother’s mother.

Her most complex piece involved 396 one-by-one-inch squares, “unique in color or pattern,” each with its own design.

“It’s practically a life project,” she said.

It takes a special kind of artist to meticulously piece together that many squares, and a special kind of person to give blood and volunteer.

Just like every stitch matters in needlepoint, every drop of blood matters in a donation.

Ellen said everyone should know the variety of services the Red Cross offers and that volunteers make up the majority of the workforce.

She said she would tell people, “donate to the Red Cross because of the value of the work that’s being done.”

If you would like to donate or volunteer, learn how at redcross.org.

Editor’s Note: We’ll be profiling outstanding Red Cross volunteers throughout National Volunteer Week April 16-22. Be sure to check back daily!