Media Contacts:

Kelly Chesney
Department of State
(517) 373-2520

Sarah Clevenger
American Red Cross,
Mid-Michigan Chapter
(517) 702-3349

FEBRUARY 7, 2006

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and officials from the American Red Cross want everyone to lend their support to the American Red Cross this month to help save lives.

The Department of State and the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross have once again partnered to celebrate March as Red Cross Month. Red Cross volunteers visited Secretary of State branch offices in Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Ingham and Shiawassee counties. They met with the public and distributed information to raise awareness of Red Cross services and needs.

Joining Land at the Lansing Downtown Secretary of State branch office for a media availability were John H. Cauley Jr., chief executive officer of the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the Red Cross, and Kelly Rogers, marketing and communications manager for the Great Lakes Region Blood Services.

"The American Red Cross serves our nation nobly," Land said. "Whether help is needed in your hometown or on the other side of the world, the Red Cross is there to meet the challenge. The Department of State is proud to help get the word out about the wonderful work that it does."

"I commend Secretary Land’s leadership in recognizing and promoting the lifesaving work of the American Red Cross," Cauley said.

"The Great Lakes Region is looking forward to using this opportunity to educate current and potential donors about the persistent need for blood," Rogers said. "The Secretary of State is a busy branch of Michigan government. Allowing the American Red Cross to share information with customers is bound to save more lives through increased blood donations."

The Department of State’s association with the Red Cross began shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. To assist with disaster relief, the department began issuing a fundraising license plate to benefit the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. A Red Cross representative also sits on Land’s Organ and Tissue Donor Advisory Committee.

The Red Cross Mid-Michigan Chapter serves residents in Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Ingham and Shiawassee counties. Some of the services provided include distributing emergency messages for armed forces members, coordinating blood drives and transportation of blood products to hospitals, health and safety training, disaster relief, food distribution and international relief.

The Great Lakes Region Blood Services oversees the exacting requirements for collecting, handling, transporting and processing blood donations. Blood donations benefit the ill or injured at hospitals nationwide.

The Red Cross is composed of a nationwide network of nearly 900 chapters and blood-services regions. Led by 1.2 million volunteers and 30,000 employees, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to families affected by more than 67,000 disasters, trains almost 12 million people in lifesaving skills and exchanges more than a million emergency messages for U.S. military personnel and their families. The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts worldwide.

For more information about the Mid-Michigan Red Cross, visit its Web site at www.midmichiganredcross.org.

Questions about blood drives or donating blood should be directed to the Great Lakes Region Blood Services at www.greatlakesblood.org.

Information about Department of State services and programs can be found at www.Michigan.gov/sos.