Friday, December 9, 2011 at 3:08PM Dick Benjamin, 62, from Holland, started donating blood when he was a teenager. In May of 2011, he hit the 35 gallon mark, making Dick one of Michigan Blood's top donors. “I’m not a very talented person, but the Lord gave me this gift,” said Dick. “I once lost someone very near and dear to me and I had extra time with him because of blood donors.”
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:29PM Kevin Marion, 29 of Rochester, who donated peripheral blood stem cells on November 22, became Michigan Blood's 500th donor. Michigan Blood, as part of the National Marrow Donor Program's Be the Match Registry, recruits potential marrow donors for patients across the country and around the world. Kevin's patient is a 57-year-old man who lives abroad.
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 3:00PM “I believe that I’m now the second-highest gallon level donor in this region [Great Lakes Bay], the highest being Eldon Hall,” said Tom Baird of Bay City, MI, who recently reached the 30 gallon mark. “I donated my first pint to Michigan Blood on 12/28/1973 and have [been donating regularly] ever since. I have every donor card since the first donation.” A few months before starting to donate at Michigan Blood (then Michigan Community Blood Centers), Tom had made his first blood donation ever as a senior at Bay City Central High School, at a spring blood drive with the American Red Cross.