“Why I Give”: There Will Be (Donated) Blood!

A Baltimore teenager explains what giving feels like

I'm considering introducing a semi-regular series of posts featuring Fundraising for Breakfast subscribers called “Why I Give.” To my mind, it’s easier to know how to ask for something if you know why people want to give it, right? And not just money.

Fundraising for Breakfast subscriber, Izzy, kicks us off by talking about why she donates blood. By way of introduction:

• Izzy is a high school student, the oldest of four, and a family friend. (Her dad will be Mr. June in my hotly anticipated “Men of Fundraising for Breakfast” charity calendar.)

• Every other month, Izzy and her Dad join me and Child #2 for dinner at a different restaurant around the city: Thai food in East Baltimore, Italian in Little Italy, Mexican near a college campus. It's fun.

• She’s a writer and her senior project is a collection of short stories (scroll to the end to learn more).

• She introduced you to the “Hot Girls Hit Curbs” bumper sticker from this post. Also, she has the best ever Substack bio (ask yourself why isn’t this also your bio in Substack):

  

Below is a lightly edited reflection from Izzy about why she donates blood every month.

“Why I Give”

I think donating blood/plasma/platelets is its own genre of giving because you are literally giving away a part of you.

When I’m giving blood, it’s much easier for me to visualize the impact it will have on the person who receives it than when I donate money. Probably because I can physically feel and see the thing I’m donating leave my possession.

This is my arm. That’s my blood. They don’t let you keep the ball.

The process itself also factors in, which isn’t always something we consider when giving money. When I go to donate blood, I schedule an appointment and feel obligated to keep that appointment. And I love talking to the nurses about what numbers/data on the monitors mean, how the machine processing the plasma works, and where my blood will end up. I’ve always had pleasant experiences donating blood due to the kind staff that are always so eager to accommodate my curiosity. And honestly, one of the reasons I donate so frequently is that it makes me feel like an adult.

You could eat off these floors. I wouldn’t. But you could.

I like being the kind of person who drives out three times a month to do this uncomfortable thing to help someone in need. So, maybe, it’s for myself as much as it’s for others.

Some people I’ve talked to are just as hesitant about donating money as donating blood. Parting with something isn’t always pleasurable, even though you know you’re helping someone, which should be a rewarding feeling. I think with blood, it’s like, you have unlimited amounts and it will regenerate…does money always regenerate? Does it always come back?

I’m not against giving money. I’ve donated money to charity before, but it's not as satisfying as something like donating blood or plasma. My dad and I have collected backpacks and filled them with essential items for those at a homeless shelter. That felt more impactful than donating money. I got to hand the bag to someone who needed it after I compiled all the items.

For me, more effort equals a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

So that’s why I give.

Two things stand out to me about Izzy’s perspective on giving blood:

1. She wants to see her giving in action. Whether it’s blood or stuffing backpacks, she wants to know what the gift is doing and where it’s going. She doesn’t deny the same is possible when giving money, but I suspect it’s just harder for her to see and feel. It’s the responsibility of whoever asks Izzy for money to help her see that connection more clearly.

2. There are a couple places where Izzy hints at what giving feels like. I sense she enjoys the process of donating blood (making an appointment, keeping an appointment, sitting in a clinic while they draw blood, etc.) and what it says about her to herself. To paraphrase Izzy: it feels like what being a grown up should feel like.

S I D E N O T E

Izzy’s senior project is a collection of short stories.

From the back cover:

A ballerina cannibal cult in the mountains. Neo nazi punks fighting against a swamp monster. A woman discovers sirens in a cornfield. A monster lurks in the catacombs beneath a house party. Sinister fae and lonely vampires. Woman embodying something else, whether it be evil or good. Were these women made monster or were they born that way? What fantasies and existences do women go to when those at hand fall short?

Within this collection of short stories, aspects of being a woman will be explored and torn open—obsession, fear, rage, love, hunger, and the darker parts of femininity. Through dense, feminist oriented prose with elements of magical realism and urban fantasy in multi-facetted character studies of gothic horror, the author explores what it means to be a woman.

Message me if you’d like a little space to explain to other readers here why you give.

Or why you don’t give.

I’d love to hear what people think about when they choose to give something. Because eventually we can square that with what I (and others) think about when I ask for something.

Three cheers in the chat for Izzy for kicking off the “Why I Give” series!