Red Cross launches 'SleevesUp'
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on January 7, 2015 1:46 PM
With social media everywhere today, the American Red Cross has decided to tap into this audience by creating its brand new SleevesUp Campaign.
"It's a web-based tool to create a virtual blood drive," said Red Cross account manager Miranda Harrison. "It's almost like a blood drive with no walls, no set location.
"It's all about a person having a personal campaign for their blood drive. It could be to celebrate someone's birthday. It could be to honor someone. Or it could be for not any special occasion, just someone wanting to help put more units of blood on the shelves. And it truly uses social media."
Ms. Harrison said everybody's got friends on Facebook. Through Facebook, a person could challenge his or her friends to go out and donate blood.
"It's something that's a personal campaign," she said. "People can post their pictures about why they're doing it, their own stories, the testimony behind it all."
To become a part of the SleevesUp Campaign, all you have to do is go to redcrossblood.org/sleevesup and follow the prompts. Anyone with a smart phone can create his or her own SleevesUp Campaign blood drive.
The Red Cross encourages those who do a virtual blood drive to have a certain date by which their friends should donate.
"We would like for people, especially with it being winter, to donate by a certain date," Ms. Harrison said.
Once someone decides to donate blood for your virtual drive, all he or she has to do is log onto redcrossblood.org to find a blood drive within 25 miles of where he is. Then he picks one and gives blood at it.
That donation counts for both the fixed blood drive and the virtual blood drive, Ms. Harrison said.
"Once someone gives blood for your blood drive, you can track that donation and other donations that people are making as part of your personal campaign," she said. "Donors will be tied into your account. It's a way you can have people everywhere and anywhere go out and donate blood because of you."
This will help get more donors giving blood to the Red Cross, Ms. Harrison said.
"It's going to help by getting more units of blood on the shelves," she said. "With tying in with the social media, it puts our name out there and spreads the word about what we do.
"Even if you reach out to someone who's not eligible to donate blood, they can still give financially to the Red Cross in your name, which is also set up on the website for you to keep track of."
And the beauty of it is that anyone can set up a virtual blood drive as many times as he or she wants. Ms. Harrison recommends having them at least 56 days apart, though, because that's the amount of time a donor has to wait in between blood donations.
"Reaching out to those people that you're in contact with on a daily basis through social media helps motivate them because someone they know is personally involved and they know they're helping you," she said.
Ms. Harrison said the virtual blood drives will help keep blood on the shelves.
"We can't save it forever," she said. "Red cells are good for only 42 days. Platelets are good for only five days. That's why we're always asking for people to come out and give blood."
And the beauty of the SleevesUp Campaign is that anyone can set up a virtual drive and it doesn't cost a thing. It's not just limited to individuals; a small business or a civic organization or club can have a virtual blood drive.
For more information about the SleevesUp Campaign, call the local Red Cross at 919-735-7201.