Newspaper publisher and professor Cheryl Smith understands what it means to serve. Smith believes a life of service is part of the price we pay for our time on Earth. She works diligently to keep her communities informed while proactively addressing their needs.

Smith's desire to give back led her to the American Red Cross. Working with the biomedical services team from the Red Cross North Texas Region, Smith decided to become a blood drive host. She recently held a drive at the African American Museum in Dallas on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to support the Red Cross Sickle Cell Initiative. 

"I started thinking," Smith said. "We are always calling on [the Red Cross] when we're in need. Why don't we be a friend indeed and reach out and see what we can do? … I want to do something. I want us to be engaged. I don't want it to be again, where there's a crisis and then we say, 'Let's give, let's do.' So, that's the thing."

Host a blood drive: Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. By hosting a blood drive, you can make a real difference.

Smith, who teaches at Dallas College also publishes Texas Metro News, Garland Journal and I Messenger. She says the idea for this specific drive came from her observation that she saw people milling around without much to do before they went home every year after the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in South Dallas. She contacted elected officials, the Red Cross, banks, realtors and other organizations. She put together the Realizing the Dream Healthy Living Expo at the African American Museum.

"I said, 'We could educate them, we could give them information, we could get people out to share, have health screenings,' just do a lot of things for our communities. It's not just one, it's plural," Smith said. "And so that's why we started doing this. And we tried to incorporate not just getting us healthy physically, but mentally, psychologically, socially, financially."

Carmen Branch made an appointment at the expo to donate blood for the third time in her life. Because she has low iron, she usually can't give. But while she was there with Comerica, one of the event's sponsors, she decided to try again because of the impact of sickle cell disease on her family. 

"It's very personal. Within my family, I just lost my second cousin to sickle cell," Branch said. "For years, my dad used to donate because he would see his nephews get blood transfusions. We know that they're just disproportionately affected as African Americans, and then sometimes, you need more of a specific match. So now, since he's older and he cannot give blood, I'm kind of replacing him."

Red Cross Sickle Cell Initiative: People with sickle cell disease may need as many as 100 units of blood each year.

Helping patients with sickle cell disease differed from what brought the Red Cross to Smith's attention. At first, she didn't even know the organization did anything with sickle cell. Instead, the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces programs gave Smith her first honest look at everything the organization does to help people. 

"I really paid attention to the Red Cross when my mother passed, and my nephew was in the Air Force in Japan, and I saw everything they did to get him home for the funeral," she said. "And then I also had people after sorority sisters and friends who have been involved, who have worked with the American Red Cross."

Smith hopes to host more blood drives in the future, but blood drives are just one part of how she envisions activating the communities she serves. For her, it's all about giving people access to information and education to get involved and have a better quality of life. 

"It's not just about the blood drive," Smith said. "I think people really don't know the depth and the breadth of the work that the American Red Cross does. We have to start being proactive about addressing ills in society and not waiting until there's a tragedy to try to push the panic button [and] sound the alarm to get people to be engaged."

It's all part of her selfless mantra. Through Red Cross blood drives, teaching, newspapers and other events, Smith is activating communities to empower people through education and service to others.  

"Every chance that I can get up and do something for myself, it ought to be a chance I get up and do something for someone else," Smith said. "I'm going to give blood. I'm going to address issues. … That's what I do."