Photo By Michael Alexander

Last Saturday, Dec. 7, I stopped by the Bob Buechner Holy Cross Church Blood Drive. The first blood drive took place in 2010 after Holy Cross formed its Blood Donation Ministry. Buechner died in 1998 and was a longtime parishioner who cherished his family and his faith.

With full disclosure I am an American Cross blood donor and I know Rob Buechner, the sixth of Bob’s seven children (five boys and two girls). We were neighbors in Tucker. Rob invited me to the blood drive back in October, and I held off donating until the time of the Holy Cross blood drive.

Mark Kelly, a parishioner and the St. Pius X High School athletic director, is the brainchild behind the ministry and blood drive. Kelly has also been married to Bob Buechner’s daughter, Linda, for over 30 years. Kelly brings that competitive athletic “swagger” to the drive. For example, this year they set a goal to make it the largest Catholic Church blood drive in the country at 330 units of blood.

Chris Buechner, the youngest of Bob Buechner’s seven children, donates a pint of blood during the fourth annual blood drive at Holy Cross Church, Atlanta, as his wife Jill stands at his side. Photo By Michael Alexander

Each year the drive has grown in size and donations. In 2010 164 units of blood were collected, while 198 and 249 were collected in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The parish hall is converted into a blood donation center, where some 40 parish volunteers and 40 Red Cross workers assisted first time and repeat donors through the procedure. There’s no other time during the year when I give blood that I feel like I’m at party. It’s bustling, it’s festive and it’s so much fun. It’s like a church picnic or parish homecoming for blood donors.

Kelly operates as part event host and circus ringmaster. One moment he can be seen walking around to donors with offers of hot chocolate, hot cider, home-baked Christmas cookies, bagels or water. The next moment he’s on a microphone announcing random numbers for prizes and gifts from various vendors. Every detail has been thought through, which makes it a well organized and smooth running endeavor. Appointments are met and completed in a timely fashion, and the volunteers working every aspect of the process are warm and friendly. Once you’re done, it’s like an amusement park ride and you say to yourself, “hey, let’s do that again.”

Aside from all the fun, donating blood is a great gift to others during Advent or anytime. According to the American Red Cross one pint (unit) of blood can help save up to three lives. This year 336 people signed up to give, and in the end Holy Cross collected 303 units of blood, which translates to 909 lives. It also means Holy Cross conducted the largest “church” blood drive of any denomination ever in Georgia. The previous best of 295 was achieved by New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia.

While I was in the canteen after donating I saw Bob Buechner’s 82-year-old widow, June, and I asked her what she thought of all the attention surrounding a blood drive for her late husband. “It’s pretty overwhelming to see so many people come out to donate blood in his memory for the church. I give all the credit to Mark, Linda, extended family and fellow parishioners,” she said.

Well, I’m not sure what to expect from the fifth annual Bob Buechner Holy Cross Church Blood Drive in 2014, but I can only imagine the same fun and dedication toward a worthy cause, with even greater results.

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