Six gallons is a lot of blood. Especially if it's rare, baby-saving blood.

"It adds up to about 53 pounds," says Michael Comens. That's about the size of your average 6-year-old. Michael's speaking from experience. That's how much he's donated to local Red Cross blood drives.

Kevin Swaim's no stranger to blood drives either. "I've been to so many, I even know what kind of treats each location serves."

Kevin and Michael don't know each other, but they have a lot in common. They both work at State Farm^® (in the same department, mind you) and every two months or so, a bunch of people call them up and ask for their blood.

Now there's a reason for this, and it's not because they both somehow ended up on some weirdo vampire mailing list!

Kevin and Michael both have an extremely rare blood type. They're both Type O-negative, which means they're universal donors. And they're also free of CMV, a common virus that's harmless to most people, but can cause severe infections for patients with weak immune systems, especially newborn babies. Only 2% of people worldwide are both Type O- and CMV-negative, and this combination makes them the exact type needed for baby blood transfusions.

Turning an O-negative into a positive.

Every day, the American Red Cross sends pediatric-specific blood like Kevin's and Michael's to hospitals across the country through a program called Heroes for Babies.

"I had no idea what my blood type was before I first donated," said Kevin. Shortly after his first donation, he was contacted by the Red Cross.

"Once they told me that my blood was rare and was being used to help babies, I wanted to help out as much as I could."

Michael's story was similar. "I knew I was a universal donor, but I'd never heard about CMV or the Heroes for Babies program."

Now Kevin and Michael are both proud members of Heroes for Babies, and both donate as often as they can. Their efforts are definitely appreciated.

"We are deeply grateful for the support from partners like State Farm who have enabled the American Red Cross to continue to deliver on our lifesaving mission nationwide and help patients during these unprecedented times. The need for blood does not stop during a pandemic. Thanks in part to the many State Farm employees who have generously rolled-up a sleeve, including as part of our Heroes for Babies program, the Red Cross has been able to provide patients young and old the blood products they need,” said Kamenna Lee, vice president, biomedical marketing at the American Red Cross.

Donating is an APPsolute breeze

The pin Michael received after donating his sixth gallon of blood.

"You have to wait about 60 days between donations," said Michael. "But it's easy to find places to donate."

Finding a location is easy, even during the pandemic, thanks to a special app available from the Red Cross.

"It's been important for me to keep donating blood through the quarantines and lockdowns," said Kevin. "It's the least I can do for these kids who need it."

The Red Cross app not only allows Kevin and Michael to find places to donate, they can see exactly where their blood is being used.

"It's pretty cool to see all the different places your blood is out there making a difference," Kevin said, having used the app to track his donations to pediatric hospitals across the country.

Michael agreed, and encouraged others to give blood. "They wouldn't ask for it if they didn't need it, plus you might find out just how valuable your blood really is."

100 for Good™

If you haven’t yet, download the new 100 for Good™ app from the IOS and Android App stores. Check out the 100 for Good Yammer page for stories about your fellow State Farmers doing good and info on how to get/stay involved. Most importantly, don’t forget to record your Acts of Good! 

Six gallons is a lot of blood. Especially if it's rare, baby-saving blood.

"It adds up to about 53 pounds," says Michael Comens. That's about the size of your average 6-year-old. Michael's speaking from experience. That's how much he's donated to local Red Cross blood drives.

Kevin Swaim's no stranger to blood drives either. "I've been to so many, I even know what kind of treats each location serves."

Kevin and Michael don't know each other, but they have a lot in common. They both work at State Farm^® (in the same department, mind you) and every two months or so, a bunch of people call them up and ask for their blood.

Now there's a reason for this, and it's not because they both somehow ended up on some weirdo vampire mailing list!

Kevin and Michael both have an extremely rare blood type. They're both Type O-negative, which means they're universal donors. And they're also free of CMV, a common virus that's harmless to most people, but can cause severe infections for patients with weak immune systems, especially newborn babies. Only 2% of people worldwide are both Type O- and CMV-negative, and this combination makes them the exact type needed for baby blood transfusions.

Turning an O-negative into a positive.

Every day, the American Red Cross sends pediatric-specific blood like Kevin's and Michael's to hospitals across the country through a program called Heroes for Babies.

"I had no idea what my blood type was before I first donated," said Kevin. Shortly after his first donation, he was contacted by the Red Cross.

"Once they told me that my blood was rare and was being used to help babies, I wanted to help out as much as I could."

Michael's story was similar. "I knew I was a universal donor, but I'd never heard about CMV or the Heroes for Babies program."

Now Kevin and Michael are both proud members of Heroes for Babies, and both donate as often as they can. Their efforts are definitely appreciated.

"We are deeply grateful for the support from partners like State Farm who have enabled the American Red Cross to continue to deliver on our lifesaving mission nationwide and help patients during these unprecedented times. The need for blood does not stop during a pandemic. Thanks in part to the many State Farm employees who have generously rolled-up a sleeve, including as part of our Heroes for Babies program, the Red Cross has been able to provide patients young and old the blood products they need,” said Kamenna Lee, vice president, biomedical marketing at the American Red Cross.

Donating is an APPsolute breeze

The pin Michael received after donating his sixth gallon of blood.

"You have to wait about 60 days between donations," said Michael. "But it's easy to find places to donate."

Finding a location is easy, even during the pandemic, thanks to a special app available from the Red Cross.

"It's been important for me to keep donating blood through the quarantines and lockdowns," said Kevin. "It's the least I can do for these kids who need it."

The Red Cross app not only allows Kevin and Michael to find places to donate, they can see exactly where their blood is being used.

"It's pretty cool to see all the different places your blood is out there making a difference," Kevin said, having used the app to track his donations to pediatric hospitals across the country.

Michael agreed, and encouraged others to give blood. "They wouldn't ask for it if they didn't need it, plus you might find out just how valuable your blood really is."

Unfortunately, many blood drives have been canceled due to shut-downs . This has impacted the Red Cross’s ability to collect donations. Daily, 13,000 blood donations and more than 2,600 platelet donations are needed to supply patients at hospitals and transfusion centers across the country.

You Can Help

Summer is traditionally a difficult time to collect enough blood to meet patient needs. Accidents, medical emergencies and chronic blood conditions don’t take a break. Patients need blood every day. The blood supply must be continuously replenished to help prevent shortages during the coming weeks and months.

State Farm® has hosted American Red Cross blood drives for the past 25 years. Our employees have rolled up their sleeves and donated 45,694 units of blood at State Farm-sponsored drives since 1997.

State Farm invites all our neighbors to join us and the American Red Cross on the SleevesUp Campaign. Visit the State Farm SleevesUp page to make a pledge to give blood and schedule an appointment in your area. Make sure to tell your family and friends.

She donated blood for the first time last year following a harrowing experience with her husband, Kenneth Brooks.

Kenneth was feeling under the weather and could not get an appointment to see his doctor for six weeks.

“We were just waiting on the appointment,” Amy says. “One night, I heard a crash and found my husband on the bathroom floor having some type of seizure. The thought of losing my husband… I lost it.”

She called 911, and her husband was conscious before they arrived, but still wasn’t right. After getting her daughters placed with a neighbor, Amy met her husband at the emergency room.

“I explained the seizure. After several hours, I stepped out of his room. When I came back, it looked like a bomb had gone off. There were things thrown everywhere. He had another seizure,” she says.

After running blood work and doing scans, they found the problem: a bleeding stomach ulcer.

“Normally, when you have a bleeding ulcer, you show signs. We had no indication,” Amy says. “His blood count was really low, so they immediately got blood for him.”

When receiving blood, as long as it’s the same type (A, B, AB or O), your body will accept it. But Kenneth needed a lot of blood.

“It wasn’t his exact blood type, so his body was rejecting it. We called the Red Cross and they typed his specific blood type, but couldn’t find any donations available. They said it could take two or three days,” Amy says.

The doctors couldn’t get the bleed to stop and they had to pump the new blood out. Kenneth was put on a ventilator and sedated.

“It was hard knowing I had to wait for something you would think would be so simple, that gives life so easily,” Amy says.

At the 25^th hour, they found an exact match.

“I’ve never been so relieved. We did a little happy dance.”

It’s been a year, and Kenneth is still recovering.

“Eventually, we got the ulcer fixed. They had to remove half of his stomach because they couldn’t stop the bleeding. Losing that much blood, people don’t realize how much weaker you get. He’s still not 100 percent,” she says.

A few days after Kenneth’s recovery, Amy was leaving the hospital and saw an American Red Cross worker delivering blood to the hospital.

“I went up to him and I said, ‘It probably wasn’t you, but I’m going to thank you anyway. Because of people like you, my husband is still alive.’”

Amy had never given blood because of medical conditions she thought restricted her.

“I was wrong. I can donate as long as I’m healthy. The next time the Red Cross came to my office I invited my peers to donate in the name of my husband because they saved his life. It was nice to give back.

“You don’t think your life will change in an instant, but it can.”

State Farm^® is partnering with the American Red Cross Missing Types campaign for the second year. The campaign focuses on the need for blood by requesting people “fill in the missing types” of A, B, AB and O blood. Partners can promote the campaign by removing those letters from logos and communications. Schedule a donation to help fill in the missing types.

A, B, AB and O represent the major blood types. The American Red Cross kick started an innovative campaign June 11 to bring attention to blood shortages across the globe.

State Farm^®, along with many other well-known organizations, are participating in this campaign June 11-July 3 with special Missing Types logos, donations, activities and events. The events will bring awareness to blood shortages and help attract 370,000 new or lapsed blood donors.

U.S. blood donation facts and why you should consider donating

Check out this infographic to get an idea of why donating blood is so important.

Consider scheduling a blood donation appointment and help fill in the Missing Type so a patient can survive.