Ex-marine gives a lot of blood for his community

By: Cathy Bayer/Staff writer

Posted: 9/22/05

The Marines asked for volunteers to donate blood. As an 18-year-old Marine, Darrell Eaton did not really have a choice in the matter.

"We'll take you, you and you," he recalls an officer saying.

About 60 years, and more than 25 gallons of blood later, Eaton is still donating.

He continues because people are always in need of it.

"You keep making more every day," he said. "So you might as well give it away."

When Eaton, 77, donates blood on Monday it will make a total of 208 pints of blood, or 26 gallons.

The blood drive will be held by the Graywood Foundation-Enterprises, an organization that runs homes for developmentally disabled adults and children in the Charleston and Mattoon area.

The weekend after Hurricane Katrina, clients of Graywood had a meeting.

It was decided that because they did not have money to send and could not head down to New Orleans to help, they could donate blood.

One client pointed out that blood is the gift of life.

They agreed they needed to do something to help the victims, said Deb Gorgol, social service and corporate trainer for the Graywood Foundation-Enterprises.

The blood drive is something the clients of Graywood want; they came up with the idea for the blood drive, Gorgol said.

The clients at Graywood are high functioning, and live in community-integrated-living arrangement homes.

Four youth homes and seven adult homes blend into the community, Gorgol said.

Each home has eight individual clients, where they learn the skills they will need to eventually live on their own, she said.

"They're not 'those people', they're everyday people like you and me that have reached out to help people," Gorgol said.

Local businesses are donating gift certificates, food and beverages to the blood drive.

Raffle tickets will be given to everyone who donates.

K C Summers car dealership in Mattoon is donating a seven-day vacation anywhere in the U.S. as the grand prize for the raffle.

Gorgol hopes to have one prize for each person who donates.

"We really want to show the community what we can do," Gorgol said.

The record for Eastern is 200 pints of blood donated at one drive, she said.

The clients of Graywood are trying to do even better.

"We want to break the record," Gorgol said.

Gorgol wants to challenge Eastern students to come out and donate.

"We really want to make this something that our clients will remember for the rest of their lives," Gorgol said.

The entire donation takes about an hour, with the actual blood donating process only taking 10 minutes, said Tracy Torbeck, American Red Cross, Missouri-Illinois Blood Services, District Recruitment Account Manager.

Torbeck said she has noticed an increase of donators, specifically first-time donors, since Hurricane Katrina.

More people are calling and wanting to help out, she said.

A blood drive is just one way to help out. It keeps the local blood bank filled, as well as the ability to send blood to other areas that are in need, she said.

The blood drive is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday at the Graywood Center at 19892 Camp Spring Road in Charleston.

Questions about the blood drive can be directed to Deb Gorgol at (217) 345-3461.