Every year, millions of Americans sign up for blood drives, where they roll up their sleeves and sit for about 15 minutes as blood is drawn from their body—all in the name of helping others.
Johnson & Johnson has long supported the lifesaving act of blood donation. In 1947, in the infancy of blood banking, the company helped set up the first blood bank for hospitals in New Brunswick, New Jersey, by providing refrigerators to store the donations and encouraging employees to give blood to help establish the initial supply.
In 1954, Johnson & Johnson instituted a formal employee blood donor program, which has evolved over the years. Today, a core team of employee volunteers helps build the tools and messaging that individual company workplaces can then use to promote their own blood drives. Each separate workplace organizes and hosts drives throughout the year.
At Johnson & Johnson’s New Brunswick headquarters, for example, blood drives are held five times a year, says Elizabeth Schwartz, Senior Director, Global Assessment & Consulting Services. “We also partner with the American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers to promote blood donation, as well as focus on goals like building a diverse donor pool,” explains Schwartz.
What’s remarkable is that the blood donation program is 100% volunteer. “All of us at the company who work on the blood drives at Johnson & Johnson sites are doing it on a volunteer basis, in addition to our actual job responsibilities,” says Schwartz. “It’s amazing to see how much time and effort people put into this because of the tie to Our Credo and wanting to help patients and our communities.”
In honor of World Blood Donor Day and Johnson & Johnson’s long commitment to organizing blood drives, test your knowledge of this lifesaving process by answering the questions below—then find out how you can sign up for a blood drive in your community.
Johnson & Johnson has long supported the lifesaving act of blood donation. In 1947, in the infancy of blood banking, the company helped set up the first blood bank for hospitals in New Brunswick, New Jersey, by providing refrigerators to store the donations and encouraging employees to give blood to help establish the initial supply.
In 1954, Johnson & Johnson instituted a formal employee blood donor program, which has evolved over the years. Today, a core team of employee volunteers helps build the tools and messaging that individual company workplaces can then use to promote their own blood drives. Each separate workplace organizes and hosts drives throughout the year.
At Johnson & Johnson’s New Brunswick headquarters, for example, blood drives are held five times a year, says Elizabeth Schwartz, Senior Director, Global Assessment & Consulting Services. “We also partner with the American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers to promote blood donation, as well as focus on goals like building a diverse donor pool,” explains Schwartz.
What’s remarkable is that the blood donation program is 100% volunteer. “All of us at the company who work on the blood drives at Johnson & Johnson sites are doing it on a volunteer basis, in addition to our actual job responsibilities,” says Schwartz. “It’s amazing to see how much time and effort people put into this because of the tie to Our Credo and wanting to help patients and our communities.”
In honor of World Blood Donor Day and Johnson & Johnson’s long commitment to organizing blood drives, test your knowledge of this lifesaving process by answering the questions below—then find out how you can sign up for a blood drive in your community.
