Stories from the Edge | Donating Just One Pint of Blood Can Change Dozens of Lives…Forever!
From a young age, we’re told that giving blood is a good thing to do. But I think it’s hard to really appreciate how much “good” is done every time we donate a single pint of blood until we’ve personally experienced its positive and far reaching impact.
For example, we may know that each blood donation can potentially save more than one life. However, giving blood is about more than giving the gift of life to another person. It’s about giving the gift of hope, joy and love to the dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people that are connected to the patient receiving the blood – whether for another day, decade or longer. In the short time that it takes to give, the generosity of blood donors can forever change the lives of the friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members of patients whose lives have been saved.
That is why such a seemingly small – and even routine – act of good is such a big deal.
Especially here at Zebra.
As individuals, many of us know someone who has needed blood. Or we know that, one day, we may need the donations of others to survive or thrive.
As a company, we know that healthcare is where we can dive deepest into human welfare. That’s why our support for the American Red Cross comes naturally – and why we’ve made healthcare a focus area for our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. We actually have a lot in common, starting with our shared values of teamwork and collaboration and extending into our community “health” commitments.
At the Red Cross, the mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in times of emergency. Their commitment to the communities they serve extends from emergency preparedness to disaster relief and blood services, in particular.
Here at Zebra, our team has spent the last 50+ years focused on improving patient outcomes with technology. A lot of our healthcare work is centered around ensuring the right patient gets the right care at the right time. However, we also work with physicians, nurses, phlebotomists and other healthcare providers on a daily basis to ensure they have all the tools they need to better people’s lives, not just technology. A stocked blood bank is one of those tools. But only one. Watch this:
As you saw in the video, blood drives are common at Zebra’s offices in the United States. In fact, we just completed one of our largest drives so far this year as part of the #MissingTypes Campaign, which we spoke about here on Your Edge a few months back.
According to Susan Westerfield, regional philanthropy officer, American Red Cross, Zebra was considered one of the most engaged companies out of all first-year lead partners. We even drove more click-throughs to our campaign link than some well-known (and well-connected) companies that also participated in the campaign.
I’m not telling you this because I want to brag. We don’t view any of our CSR efforts, much less our Red Cross support, as a competition.
Our success in the #MissingTypes campaign is just further evidence of Zebra’s deep commitment to bettering the lives of others, a commitment that has taken – and will continue to take – many forms:
- Making or advocating for lifesaving blood donations
- Providing cash donations in times of immense need, like we did during the California wildfires in November 2018 and after Hurricane Dorian last month
- Packing over 4,000 comfort kits that will be distributed in disaster relief efforts in the coming months
- And more!
In short, this Stories from the Edge video offers just a glimpse at the synergy we’ve found with the Red Cross over the year. We are sincerely grateful for our relationship with this lifesaving and life-changing organization, as it gives us many opportunities to drive Zebra’s purpose: to do a world of good, one community at a time.
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Editor’s Note: Stay tuned to Your Edge to learn more about how we are driving Zebra’s purpose globally. You can also learn more about Zebra’s other CSR initiatives on our website or by catching up on recent Your Edge blog posts:
- These Zebras are Making a Difference in More Ways Than One
- Extraordinary Giving, the Zebra Way
- Stories from the Edge: The Universal Language of Collaboration
- Zebras Chime In: How We Capture Our Sense of Purpose in Our Communities
- Filling the #MissingTypes One Letter at a Time
- How Zebra Will Give Back to Global Communities on Earth Day – and All Year Round
- Stories from the Edge: Bernie’s Book Bank
Rob Armstrong
Robert (Rob) Armstrong became Chief Marketing Officer, Zebra Technologies in March 2023. Rob has nearly 20 years of experience in the B2B technology sector and joined Zebra in 2014.
Throughout his career, he has held various go-to-market leadership roles, most recently serving as Zebra’s Senior Vice President of Integrated Marketing & Channels. In this role, Rob oversaw go-to-market strategy and downstream marketing execution for the full Zebra portfolio, inclusive of customer segment, product, and digital marketing; channel and brand strategies; media relations; pricing; and analytics. During this time, he led a diverse, high-performing team of marketing and channel professionals to drive preference globally and evolve the perception of the Zebra brand in over 100 countries in collaboration with more than 10,000 partners in Zebra’s growing channel ecosystem.
Prior to joining Zebra, Rob held various global and regional roles across product development, business development, operations, and marketing at Motorola Solutions, including assignments in Asia Pacific and Europe. Rob has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and he currently serves as a board member for Bernie’s Book Bank and FIRST Illinois Robotics.
