Sister Martha Bertke reaches donation milestone

In June, the American Red Cross commended Sister Martha Bertke on reaching her 18 gallon milestone in 144 lifetime blood donations. The Red Cross gifted her with a lapel pin as a symbol of her dedication to helping save lives. “There are many ways of being a life-giving presence to others,” Sister Martha said, referring to the Congregation’s mission statement to be “a life-giving, reconciling presence in our fractured world.”

She added that a small magnet that she keeps on her refrigerator continues to motivate her to donate blood. It reads: 3 is how many lives one blood donation can help save. The American Red Cross reports that someone in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion every two seconds. The organization supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood.

Poster, 1949. American
Red Cross.

Comments are closed.