By Jenny Farley and Alana Mauger

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Red Cross workforce celebrated Staff Donor Day by hosting a blood drive at the Spring Garden Campus on July 9.

The effort was spearheaded by an enthusiastic committee of employees from across Red Cross departments, which competed to see who could recruit the most donors.

Staffers were welcomed at the entrance to the blood drive by Crystal Baytop who was excited to see so many people signed up to donate. “I know it’s going to be a successful day. I’m looking forward to it,” she said.

Baytop has been a Red Cross volunteer since 2019 and serves in many roles including disaster spiritual care, shelter services and feeding. She has deployed to disasters around the country and now deploys locally. On this day she greeted donors in her role as blood donor ambassador.

Jennifer Graham, the CEO of the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Region, and Helen Munizza, Regional Donor Services Executive for Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, both donated blood at the drive.

 Graham said staff donor days have been happening off and on since she started at the Red Cross nearly 30 years ago. She’s a longtime blood donor who is one donation away from giving four gallons!

“This is one of the only things that you can, within about an hour, know that you’ve helped to save somebody else’s life. That’s pretty amazing and certainly makes me feel good for the rest of the day,” she said.

Yaly Alvarez felt great after donating blood for the first time ever.

Alvarez is the residential care supervisor at the Red Cross House and says the Red Cross is her “second home.” She had been nervous to donate because of the needle, but after donating was surprised she barely felt it.

“I don’t like needles, but they made me feel so comfortable, and they were talking to me during the process, and there was no way to be nervous about it,” she said.

The blood collections team says talking to people is one of the tools they use to help soothe donors and make them feel comfortable. Ana Scavuzzo is a phlebotomist who worked at the drive.

“I just kind of chitchat with them to keep their mind distracted,” she said.

Scavuzzo started out at the Red Cross ten years ago in the manufacturing lab and was looking forward to seeing co-workers donating blood who she hadn’t seen in a while.

Sean Conway is the lead of the manufacturing department at Iovance Biotherapeutics, which is a tenant at the Spring Garden Campus.

A blood donor since high school, he was excited to see he could make a Power Red donation at work while supporting the mission of the Red Cross.

“It’s a noble cause, so I’m happy to help out, especially when we come into nationwide blood shortages and issues like that, where we need supply in hospitals,” he said.

Angela Smith, who works as an administrative assistant in therapeutic cellular services, will celebrate her 25th anniversary with the Red Cross in February. She has donated blood since the 90s and felt proud to donate at the staff donor drive.

“I think it helps people to be more appreciative of the job they do, and also to know how many people benefit from it.”

Smith was also motivated to donate to help people who may have a rare blood type or a condition that requires a lot of transfusions. She said it helps “to know that your blood is actually being used to help them not only heal, but to have a better life.”

There was a friendly competition in the building to see which department had the most donors. The prize? Bragging rights and the chance to display the American Red Cross SEPA Staff Donor Day trophy.

Committee member Paul Mansfield, director of the Red Cross Immunohematology Reference Laboratory in Philadelphia, predicted a Laboratory Services victory before the event even started. His confidence wasn’t misplaced. Lab employees donated the most of any department, with Humanitarian Services and Donor Services tying for second place.

Graham said one of the most special aspects of the blood drive is that it was held at the Spring Garden Campus.

“The blood that’s collected here will be processed here, manufactured here and sent out to the hospitals that we service right from this building,” she said. “We’ve got amazing teams and laboratories. They make sure that we get the right product to the right patient at the right time.”

The American Red Cross has an emergency blood shortage as the blood supply fell nearly 25% in June. There is also an emergency need for platelets. Donors are urgently needed to give now to help ensure patients receive lifesaving medical care without delay. The shortage is especially serious for types O positive and B negative blood. 

Visit RedCrossBlood.org to schedule an appointment to donate blood or platelets.