WICHITA — “I’m still stunned at the pending loss of such a treasured tradition.”
— Beth Chiles Hershberger of Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America on how as of July 31 the American Red Cross will no longer serve sloppy joes at the Wichita Blood Center (where it has for more than 30 years) and Spirit AeroSystems (where it has for 11 years) because of cutbacks
4 Comments
My sister was NOT pleased — she’s a regular donor, and although she’ll likely keep up her donation schedule, she’s not happy that she won’t get her sloppy joe anymore.
I used to give to the United Way through my employer, until my employer decided to charge us $5 for the United Way kick-off barbecue dinner that they used to give us for free. A cold burnt hamburger and a bag of chips isn’t worth $5 to me.
Stupid. I routinely donated blood for many years before health ‘issues’ took me off the list. The sloppy joes were a definite tradition down there – and I really doubt they cost much. It’s often little things like that that keep people in the ‘habit’ of dropping in.
As for United Way – I am considering discontinuing my payroll contributions for a different reason. I have learned that they are once again choosing ‘winners and losers’ in who among the unemployed they will help at their resource center. Apparently a person’s layoff notice must be worded just right or they get turned away.
How about donating blood just to donate blood NOT for what you’ll get from it?
A couple of things AFN. While I fundamentally agree with you – having donated probably hundreds of units over decades before health reasons took me off the list. However – one does need to ‘refuel’ a bit before hitting the street; especially when a bit older. Thus the requirement that you wait a while before leaving. Also, in this case it really was a tradition. People would enjoy the Joes while socializing with each other and with staff. That made it easier to stay sufficiently long to assure that there would be no blood pressure crashes or other problems due to the blood loss.