When the COVID-19 pandemic caused a blood shortage in early 2020, Leslie Schaffer, Central Iowa Chapter Executive of the American Red Cross, reached out to Susan Sims, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In less than a month, Sims, the church’s communication director over Iowa, had helped to organize a dozen blood drives in Latter-day Saint meetinghouses under strict COVID-19 safety protocols.
The effort in Iowa became part of 200 blood drives hosted by the church across 14 states in the faith’s United States Central Area. The church, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, partnered with several blood drive organizations to accomplish the much-needed purpose, according to a church Newsroom article.
“The response was heartwarming,” Schaffer said in the article. “I had never experienced such an outpouring of care and concern for the greater good.”
The church collaborated with Vitalant, a blood service provider, to host 40 blood drives in Colorado and enable more than 4,300 people around the country to receive blood from Latter-day Saints and friends in the Denver area.
Read the full story at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
