Giving the Gift of Life, One Drop at a Time

Picking up with the motto "The need is constant, the gratification is instant" coined by the American Red Cross, TTM Santa Ana hosted its biannual Blood Drive last month to help the local Orange County chapter of the ARC.

For 12 hours on February 16th, the conference room looked like a MASH unit, with medical equipment, hospital beds, and nurses moving about. Employees that volunteered to donate a pint of their precious resource to help others also learned a bit about helping themselves through a healthy blood handout.

The Santa Ana division hosts blood drives twice yearly, and over the past year has collected 140 units of blood, helping to save 420 lives. We look forward to the next American Red Cross event in the fall.

TTM’s North America facilities support the American Red Cross with multiple blood drives throughout the year.

TTM – Connecticut Divisions Support The Jimmy Fund

Stafford, Connecticut – The Stafford and Stafford Springs Divisions' annual raffle for The Jimmy Fund was held at the Stafford Division on December 21st. With a goal to beat last year’s total of $11,723.00, the Stafford and Stafford Springs divisions met and exceeded their goal and raised $12,868.00.

In a tradition that started over 35 years ago, the Stafford and Stafford Springs Divisions began holding a raffle at Christmas time to raise money for The Jimmy Fund. A call for donations begins in mid-October and by early December, a list of the donations is compiled. Donations come in from vendors and local businesses alike. Employees can then purchase raffle tickets for $1.00 each, with 100% of all monies raised going to the Jimmy Fund.

The Jimmy Fund started out in 1948 as a small campaign to buy a television set for a 12-year old cancer patient, so he could watch his favorite baseball team, the Boston Braves. With the help of the Variety Club of New England and the Boston Braves baseball team, an appeal was made to the public on a national radio broadcast.

On May 22, Ralph Edwards' nationally syndicated radio program, "Truth or Consequences", was broadcast live from the hospital room of Einar Gustafson. To protect his identity, Einar’s name was changed to "Jimmy" and audiences around the country got to hear his story and listen in while members of the Boston Braves paid him a visit. Contributions began pouring in from around the country, thus creating The Jimmy Fund.

From that one radio broadcast over 60 years ago, over $200,000 was raised to support research conducted by Jimmy's doctor, Dr. Sidney Farber, a pioneer of modern chemotherapy and founder of the Children's Cancer Research Foundation. The Foundation is now known today as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and continues to benefit from the many donations and fund-raising events held on behalf of the Jimmy Fund.

For more information on The Jimmy Fund, please visit: http://www.jimmyfund.org/

Pictured from left to right: Joseph Durkin, Director, Special Events for the Jimmy Fund, Stephanie Pippin, Marketing Associate, Sue Lauzier, Administrative Assistant, Becky Francoline, Senior HR Business Partner – Stafford Division.