Pleasant View—Pleasant View residents were able to come together on November 21 for a blood drive held at a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (LDS) meetinghouse. The event was held by the American Red Cross and served as another example of the partnership the Red Cross has with the LDS Church. According to the Red Cross website, both organizations have worked together for nearly 100 years helping those in need. Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, said in an interview in 2012 that: “Every two seconds someone in our country needs a blood transfusion… And, time and time again, Church members have rolled up their sleeves to make life-saving donations, and that is such an act of generosity. Here in the Utah region, Latter-day Saints donate 50,000 units of blood annually in Church-hosted blood drives.”
So why would these two organizations want to work together? In that same interview in 2012 Steve Peterson, managing director of Church Welfare Services, said: “As members of the Church we are committed to helping the poor and the needy, and we view that as a divine mandate… Our partnership with the American Red Cross and others simply strengthens our position to be able to do what we feel is our responsibility as Church members.” With the partnership working in full, the Red Cross and LDS Church have been able to help out the needy in many different ways that include: blood drives, getting vaccines to those who otherwise would never receive one, donating clothing and hygiene kits, and giving medical assistance to refugees. The Church also donated all the net proceedings from their film, “Meet the Mormons,” to the Red Cross in October 2014. The partnership goes to show that everyone can help out those less fortunate, regardless of one’s religious affiliation.
