Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. Across the country, American Red Cross blood drives hosted by companies, schools and other organizations are essential to helping meet this constant need for blood.
One company that’s been a reliable source of lifesaving blood donations since at least 1954 is American Airlines. The most successful among their employee blood drives are those hosted by the local Transportation Workers Union (TWU) at the American Airlines Maintenance and Engineering Center at Tulsa International Airport in Oklahoma. TWU 514 also manages drives at three other American Airlines facilities in Tulsa—their Auxiliary Power Unit & Wiring Center (AWC), their Composite Repair Center (CRC) and their Brake & Wheel Center—increasing the potential donor pool to more than 5,000 employees. Combined, the Tulsa drives account for nearly half of all blood donations collected at American Airlines locations in the U.S. over the last five years
According to Marcia Graham, account manager for Donor Recruitment at the Red Cross, TWU 514 has these blood drives operating like well-oiled machines.
Aviation Maintenance Technician Del Cotton heads up the small dedicated crew of TWU members—which includes fellow AMTs Shawn Allan and Donna Florea and Facility Maintenance Millwright Billy Cuenca—that manage everything from publicity and recruitment to scheduling and feeding the generous American Airlines employee donors.
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