Over the years, Amy Melwing’s family have become strong advocates for blood donation. In 2010, her father passed away from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and received blood products to help in his cancer fight.

On the first anniversary of his passing, Amy, her three sisters and their mother were looking for a way to honor his memory. “My sister, who is a nurse, said that instead of being sad, we should do something positive,” she says. “Because our father had been given a lot of blood products before he passed away, she said we should donate blood in his memory.”

Amy, who has O negative blood, has become a regular blood donor and encourages people to think of the lives they can save by donating. “Think about the gift of time and possibly life that you can give to people and how wonderful that is,” she says. “There’s no greater thing than to save somebody’s life. Why would you not donate blood?”

People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.

We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.