Pennsylvania man on a mission to donate blood in all 50 states

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Vinton Smith, a man from Pennsylvania, is on a special mission, one that will increase the blood stores in all 50 states.

Smith is touring the nation donating blood as blood donated within a state stays in that state. They don't transfer the blood out of state, so Smith is trying to find ways to help people across the nation in need of blood.

"When we collect a unit of blood, we're part of the Idaho, Montana area. We ship it to our Montana, our lab in Montana, and then redistribute it in our immediate area, first to meet our immediate needs...So we provide the blood for 30 hospitals throughout the state of Idaho," Angela Ragan the Donor Relations Department Account Manager in Idaho Falls said.

Once regional needs are met the blood can be shipped to where it's needed most.

Smith says he started donating blood as he is trying to follow the example his dad gave him, while he was growing up.

"I grew up seeing my dad donate blood every 56 days, pretty much every two months, and I would see my mother and father both really doing a lot to give back to our local community and help others care for others throughout the community," Smith said.

Smith is currently in Idaho Falls to donate his blood. Idaho is the 47th state he's visited

"This is state number 47 on whole blood. This right now is 17 gallons of whole blood that I've donated. I have Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii left, and I hope to finish those in the next few years," Smith said.

He says what keeps him going is knowing the difference he is making in people's lives.

"We think about you give blood, you save their life, or you may save three lives, but it's more than that. Those people whose lives are saved have a lifetime filled with more years in that lifetime. Those years are filled with more moments, moments that would have been totally lost forever. But because someone donating donated blood helped to prolong their life, enabled them to still have one more year and more moments in those years," Smith said.

Moments are like major milestones in a person's life Smith added. Such as a father walking his daughter down the aisle. A mom or dad watching their child graduate high school or college. Grandparents meeting their grandkids. Or a Child living to adulthood.

He hopes others will be able to be inspired by what he's doing and try and donate blood as well.

"The number one reason people don't give blood is because they would never ask. Maybe they've seen something in from the Red Cross, but no one actually said, Well, you take a few minutes to give blood to help somebody else. So I'd ask everybody, would you take a few minutes to give blood to save someone's life, to fill those lives with more years and more moments in their lives," Smith said.

If you want to donate blood, you can go here to find your nearest Red Cross Blood Donation Center. Ragan says only 3% of the population who can donate does so. She says in Idaho you need to be at least 16 years old to donate.

She adds in Idaho Falls, it's best if you can set up an appointment.

"It's really, really easy. Go to that same website, redcrossblood.org. You can put in your zip code and it will bring up all the mobile drives in our area and drives that are fixed site and they are able to schedule an appointment online," Ragan said.

She says the next drive in Idaho Falls is this Thursday and the donation center.

But there's also a lot more coming up they are:

BANNOCK

Pocatello

• 10/11/2023: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., Bringhurst Building, 140 Bringhurst
• 10/12/2023: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Idaho Transportation Department, 5151 S. 5th
• 10/17/2023: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Southeast Idaho Council of Governments, 214 E. Center
• 10/19/2023: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Veteran Memorial Building, 300 N. Johnson Ave.
• 10/19/2023: 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Idaho Central Credit Union blood drive at Pocatello Blood
• 10/25/2023: 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Help Jack Give Back -Pocatello Donation Center at the Pine Ridge Mall  Donation Center, 4155 Yellowstone Ave., Pine Ridge Mall

BINGHAM

Blackfoot

• 10/13/2023: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Blackfoot Idaho East Stake Center, 1289 Mount Putnam Drive
• 10/16/2023: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., Wapello LDS Building, 337 N. 200 E.
• 10/18/2023: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Spudnik, 584 W. 100 N.
• 10/20/2023: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., Latter-Day Saints Rose Building, 403 N. 150 W.

BONNEVILLE

Idaho Falls

• 10/12/2023: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., In Honor of Olive at American Red Cross, 1165 E. 17th St.
• 10/16/2023: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m., Greater Idaho Falls Association of REALTORS, 1508 Midway
• 10/18/2023: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m., Bonneville County Employees, 577 D St.
• 10/23/2023: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 2500 Channing Way, Idaho Falls 83404
• 10/24/2023:  12:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., The Waterfront at Snake River Landing, 1220 Event Center Drive,

BUTTE

Arco

• 10/10/2023: 1 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Arco LDS Ward Building, 2438 N. 3000 W.

JEFFERSON

Rigby

• 10/26/2023: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Jefferson County Courthouse – Annex Building

MADISON

Rexburg

• 10/25, 26, & 27, 20223: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., BYU-ID Center, 50 W. Viking St.

POWER

Rockland

• 10/9/2023: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Rockland School, 321 E. Center