When I saw the statistics posted on the Red Cross web site I was stunned. Nearly 1.5 million Americans will need a blood transfusion each year. Put another way, someone in America needs blood every two seconds. And some of those in need could be my relatives, friends or neighbors. Yet only 37 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, and from that pool of potential donors less than ten percent actually do.
It’s estimated each pint of blood can save or positively impact up to three lives! So when the Red Cross issued an 
appeal this summer for blood donors of all types, Consumer Cellular employees and their families were glad to step up, as they had many times in the past, and help give back to the community.
Twice-a-year blood drives are now a regular part of our company calendar. And in our most recent blood drive—the Portland site’s seventh—we collected 36 pints, six more than our goal.
Just two weeks earlier, our Phoenix site held their first-ever company sponsored blood drive. They, too, exceeded their donation goals with 42 people signing up to give blood, delivering a total of 27 pints. This means between the two blood drives at both Consumer Cellular sites, we collected 63 pints of blood. In fact, if you count our previous blood drives over the last three years, we’ve donated enough blood to impact over 700 lives.
When I co-founded Consumer Cellular, I wanted it to be all about serving people. Our goal was to provide customers with affordable cell phone plans that would help make their lives easier. Contributing to these blood drives is another way for us to help serve the community. Doing so couldn’t be easier and it can immediately improve the lives of others.
On behalf of Consumer Cellular, I’m proud that so many of us, in both Portland and Phoenix, made a donation. We’re not just part of a company; we’re also part of a community.