A man in Central Texas who participated in a holiday blood drive on Wednesday has donated at least 25 and a half gallons of blood in his lifetime.
Steven Santacroce was one of the 35 people who signed up for the drive hosted by the American Red Cross Heart of Texas Chapter. The drive aimed to collect 30 pints of blood during a time the organization tends to see a decline in donors.
"Every two seconds, somebody in the United States need blood. When the holidays roll around is not a priority for folks so we do see that donations sometimes tend to decline,” American Red Cross Account Manager Two Jessica Amaro said.
Santacroce, who has been donating blood for at least 40 years, said the decline in donations is one of the reasons he gave blood on Wednesday, in addition to being eligible again to do so.
"The need for blood is always there and unless people donate you are not going to have blood for emergencies and surgeries in the hospital,” Santacroce said.
Amaro said lifetime donors like Santacroce are not very common.
"I will say they are becoming more and more rare, unfortunately. We do have donors like Steve who have made it a lifelong mission and that's really what we are trying to do,” Amaro said.
Santacroce who is now part of the board of the American Red Cross Heart of Texas Chapter plans to give blood again in March.
“Knowing you gave someone a gift you can’t buy. That’s very gratifying,” Santacroce.
The lifetime donor is trying to work with area schools to host blood drives in the future.
The next blood drive in Woodway will take place on December 29.
To find a blood drive in your area, click here.
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