A Lifetime of Giving: Albro Lundy’s Call to Donate Blood Began at UCLA

In 1981, long before he became a trial attorney and partner at Baker, Burton & Lundy, Albro Lundy was an English student at UCLA with a passion for giving back. He penned the following article for the Daily Bruin, hoping to inspire his fellow students to take a small but powerful action—donating blood.

That commitment didn’t end with graduation. In fact, Albro recently donated his 182nd pint of blood at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where he’s been a regular donor for nearly three decades. For his birthday each year, he asks his family to donate blood instead of giving gifts. His story was recently featured in Torrance Memorial’s Pulse Magazine. You can read that article here.

Below is the full article as it appeared in the Daily Bruin—a passionate, heartfelt reminder that one person really can save lives.

Written by Albro Lundy III, 1981

Have you ever wanted to do something extra special for someone? You want to give something that will mean more than a material token–a bona-fide, untarnished humanitarian gesture? Are you searching for a gift that shows you honestly care? Well, here’s a suggestion: give the gift of life. Donate blood.

Most of us fail to see the actual need for giving blood until it affects our own lives. More often than not, that realization hits home through a tragedy, a terrible accident involving a close family member, friend or even yourself. Think about being in a severe car crash, undergoing major surgery or even having at aplastic anemic child. These thoughts make me thank God

for my blessings. But what about those who are not so blessed? I know I might someday need the blood I donate. I also know people who need our gifts of blood right now.

I recently had the opportunity to visit recipients of my gifts of eleven pints and involvement in two major blood drives. Hearing the thanks from those grateful patients is more than enough incentive for me. In fact just knowing Joey keeps scheduling my ten week appointments. Joey has a disease, aplastic anemia, which arrests his bone marrow’s ability make red and white blood cells and platelets. At six years old, he can’t count the number of weekly transfusions he’s received. Transfusions are a reality for Joey–without our gits, he’d be dead.

Blood cannot be synthetically manufactured. Someone must give every pint involved in saving a life. The shortage of blood is acute. We need to continually replenish our dwindling supplies, overcome our personal misunderstandings about donating blood and contribute to the preservation of society in a practical way. If you are physically unable to give blood, help the Red Cross with the blood drives-but if you are physically able to give, please don’t hesitate. Tomorrow is too late for someone who needs blood tonight.

Over 405,000 pints of blood are needed next year for the 220 hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange Counties alone. When I last gave, a patient required blood every 17 seconds in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. No doubt the figures have grown. Six out of every ten people need blood at some time in their life. That statistic makes the chances very likely that someone in your family will need blood. But the blood isn’t always available. If you donate to the Red Cross, that pint will always be made available to you or your family. You can build an “insurance policy” while saving others.

UCLA sponsors three blood drives a year with the Red Cross and has a permanent donor center in the medical complex. All the facilities are here– please contribute. It feels much better to give than to receive– it’s true, and Bela Lugosi does not prep you. They don’t even collect at night, and the needle, contrary to wild rumors and imaginations, is not nine inches long. It’s a small instrument not any bigger than the extra lead for a mechanical pencil. The nurses that help are so sweet, with bright, half moon smiles and grandmotherly tender loving care. The entire process takes about 40 minutes, including 20 minutes for your medical check up, not more than 15 minutes for the actual donation, and five minutes for orange juice and cookies. The total amount of physical discomfort is no more than punching yourself in the arm. Please don’t let that keep you from this life saving gesture.

I’m one person who will continue to see Joey live through my presents of blood. Please join me and give. Donating provides me with an inner satisfaction no personal achievement can match. It can provide you with the same sense of joy.