By Ashley Henyan, regional communications director, American Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region

In 2022, Brandon Ledyard donated blood for the first time. A few months later, he rolled up a sleeve for the second time—and brought along three friends to donate by his side. A few months after that, he donated blood for the third time—and this time he brought along 15 of his fraternity brothers to join him.

Brandon’s journey to becoming a regular donor, and now advocate for others to donate, began accidently. Ledyard and a few of his fraternity brothers from the Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc had been performing routine fraternity-related community service—working to thank blood donors and distribute snacks at a Red Cross blood drive held at a church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

“We were all just there and helping,” Brandon said. “We were handing out cookies. I had no plans of donating.”

That’s when the blood program leader of the drive, a Red Cross volunteer, started up a conversation with him about the need for blood from donors who are Black and African American to help patients fighting sickle cell disease.

“It was surprising to know that donations from African American donors are so important,” said Brandon. “But hearing this inspired me to sign up – right at the church that day – and give blood donation a try.”

Following his donation, Brandon went home and researched more about why, as a person who identifies as African American, his blood could help patients fighting sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease, which disproportionately impacts African Americans, is the most common genetic blood disorder in the U.S., and regular blood transfusions are critical to help manage extreme pain and life-threatening complications. Many patients being treated for sickle cell anemia may require upwards of 100 units of blood each year. Unfortunately, frequent transfusions can make finding compatible blood types more difficult when patients develop an immune response against blood that is not closely matched. However, 1 out of every 3 African American blood donors are a close match for people with sickle cell disease.

For his second go-around, Brandon brought his wife, his sister-in-law and his daughter along with him to donate – because now he understood the importance of both donating blood and spreading the word about how impactful blood donation can be.

But he didn’t stop there.

On April 1, 2023, the anniversary of Dr. Charles Drew’s death, Brandon donated blood at the American Red Cross fixed donation site in Rockville, Maryland. It was the third blood donation of his life—and he brought along 15 members of his fraternity to donate too. One of those fraternity brothers was first-time donor, Shawn Wilkinson.

“After 23 years in the military and an abundance of travel and vaccines, I assumed I couldn’t donate,” Shawn said—shortly after giving a pint of his blood to help save lives. “But Brandon encouraged me to look into whether or not I was eligible to donate—and I am.”

Brandon and his team of blood donors plan on continuing to donate blood, regularly. They are also considering hosting several blood drives a year.

“I worked with a young man during a research project in graduate school,” said Brandon. “He had sickle cell anemia and unfortunately he passed away at a young age. He’s kind of always in the back of my mind.”

To help ensure patients have the blood products they need, the American Red Cross will continue to focus on working with partners in the Black community to grow the number of blood donors who are Black. If you’d like to join in as a blood donor or blood drive host, please visit RedCrossBlood.org.