Viola Mauer
"I volunteer at various community blood drives because I hope in some small way I can convey the importance and necessity of being a regular donor. I'm especially enthused with the high school blood drives. It is such a great way to familiarize the young people with the process of donating and hopefully will be the beginning of a life long practice on their part." Volunteers are a source of motivation and comfort to donors at all of our community mobile blood drives. Nowhere is this more important than at our high school blood drives. The kids want so desperately to give, but are anxious. The volunteers' ability to make students feel at ease makes the whole process a lot smoother. Their service is invaluable because they reassure the donors that donating is not as scary as they thought. Their calming and caring influence safely guides them through the process and back the next time. High schools have actually increased frequency due to volunteer contributions at these drives. Special thanks to all of our mobile blood drive volunteers, especially all who support our high school blood drive program and create " Donors for Life. "

Bill Schnur
"I volunteer in order to give back to the community." "Bill comes to work not only with a very good sense of humor, but also with a good sense of knowing how important what we do is," said Raul Mora, Schnur's supervisor at LifeSource. "He can't stand still; he is moving from the time he comes in until he leaves. Bill is one of the many, many volunteers who work for LifeSource. Bill also is a regular blood donor. "It only takes a little time, and it is fairly painless, but the good it provides society is immeasurable," he said. "Every time you donate blood you can save the lives of three people, and someone needs blood every two seconds. Most people don't know that 90 percent of the population will need blood in its lifetime, yet fewer than 5 percent of eligible donors in the Chicago area give the gift of life." He wants to get the word out that LifeSource needs more blood donors and volunteers.

Stanley Rozewski
When a project came up to automate our accounting process for validating & paying product invoices we looked at all of the available options and decided that a Microsoft access database would fit the bill. But where would we find the expertise needed to develop the database? The answer was volunteer, Stanley Rozewski! Stanley has extensive knowledge in this area and was willing to donate his time and expertise to develop the database. Stanley spent many hours learning our process and transforming it into a database. The result is that reporting & analysis is now at our fingertips, literally with the press of a button.

Gina Lambert
Despite running her own business, which requires quite a bit of travel she makes time to support our community mobile blood drives. She seeks out the busiest of drives, no matter their location. She is well suited for the friendly concern and care she provides ... especially to first time high school donors. Her energy and enthusiasm create donor relationships for us that could last a lifetime. She consistently identifies opportunities for improvement and celebrates our successes to make us the best we can be! Gina responds, "My first high school blood drive was thrilling. I have been a blood donor since age 19, so reaching the kids at an early age really appeals to me. High school drives provide me with the chance to talk with the teens and try to encourage them to look at donating as something they will do throughout the years. I thank LifeSource for giving me an outlet for this new passion of mine. I was able to donate blood for my Mother when she needed it. Someone else may not be so lucky when it's their turn to face a need for blood."

Alan Miller
Alan has been volunteering with LifeSource for many years despite having a very demanding job. Alan helps out every other weekend, often arriving in the wee hours of the morning to fit in his volunteer schedule while not compromising quality time with his young family. His friendly smile and positive attitude toward all the staff and customers are priceless and our hospital customers look forward to seeing him arrive with their deliveries. Alan's service to LifeSource can best be described as admirable. He is currently planning a family reunion blood drive. In response to receiving recognition, Alan writes, "As a LifeSource volunteer, I am able to help other people as a blood donor and delivering blood to the hospitals. I have been doing this for a long time - about 11 years. I also volunteer at a hospital and it's a great feeling to see the patients who receive the blood. It makes a complete circle. I believe that my contribution to LifeSource is one way of doing something good for the community and the country."

Kristyn Gresham
As a surgical nurse who works with the Open Heart Team at Rush North Shore Medical Center, I am able to appreciate first hand the importance of having blood products available for critically ill patients. Before I ever saw it from that perspective, however, my experiences as a volunteer at LifeSource helped to deepen my understanding of the impact that blood donation has on making those components available. In college, our nursing program required students to participate in some health-care related community service. LifeSource offered me the opportunity to work with them, making calls to donors, helping out with various mailing projects and mobile blood drives. Having grown up in the Chicago area, I knew of LifeSource and had a general idea of what the blood bank did. In the process of volunteering at LifeSource I learned even more about blood donation, and what valuable work is done by LifeSource. I started to understand how much effort is required to try to meet the goals necessary to supply blood products to patients when they are needed. Now, in the operating room when I make the call to the lab, I find myself thinking about the donors, hard working staff, and volunteers who helped to make sure that the blood we've ordered arrives in time. When our patients are taken to the Intensive Care Unit and we monitor their recovery, the blood products they've received play a vital part in the positive outcome they experience. Fortunately, there have only been a handful of times when I called the lab and was told the component we needed was in short supply and we might have to wait. Thankfully, LifeSource has never let us down. It is then that I can imagine the ripple effect of that drop of blood provided from a generous donor, starting perhaps with a phone call or a postcard from LifeSource and helping to save the life of our patient.