Valley blood donors roll up sleeves to mark 9/11

Published online on Saturday, Sep. 12, 2009

Trina Canas didn't mind waiting Friday in a large Tulare auditorium for her turn to give blood at an event commemorating 9/11.

Canas, of Tulare, teared up as she recalled giving blood eight years ago, after the Twin Towers had fallen, when she and millions of other Americans rolled up their sleeves in response to the nation's worst attack since Pearl Harbor.

The memories of 9/11 continue to haunt her. "It's still hurting -- I still cry," she said. "You don't want to believe something can happen like that."

Canas was among hundreds who showed up at the Tulare Veterans Memorial Building for a 9/11 blood drive that's now in its third year. Similar activities occurred nationwide, with many Americans pausing for a moment of silence, a special ceremony or to volunteer in some way.

Andrew Jones, an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Fresno, said the 9/11 attacks were "an event that affected everyone emotionally," in part because the nation experienced it virtually simultaneously on TV.

As time has passed, the day has moved closer to becoming institutionalized. A federal law passed in April established Sept. 11 as a national day of service and remembrance.

"We are creating public service rituals for these days of remembrance," Jones said. "For a society, it becomes a bonding experience. We came together as a nation. The ritual element of it is to regain the bond we felt on that day."

This collective response to a national tragedy fits a cultural pattern that scholars call "American civil religion," a term coined in the 1960s, said professor emeritus Jay Mechling, who used to teach American studies at the University of California at Davis.

American civil religion is "a faith that combines generic Judeo-Christian and Protestant ideas and aligns with Enlightenment ideas," Mechling said.

For instance, redemption is a staple of Christian faith. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln said in his second inaugural address that the country was suffering but would achieve redemption for slavery through that suffering, Mechling said.

Likewise, a day of service is a redemptive act for those who participate, he said.

"The blood drive is part of that," he said.

Jennifer Florez, 17, a senior at Tulare Union High School, gave blood for the first time on Friday.

A teacher who donated blood before school started told the class about it, so Jennifer called her mother, who brought her to the veterans hall. "It's always good to help out," Jennifer said. "9/11 in my opinion is a day of grief, in a way, but we try to celebrate it now. We try to support each other."

Her mother, Edith Martinez, said she gave blood for the first time in her life three days after Sept. 11, 2001. "I felt like we were helping out a lot of people," Martinez said.

Nationally, the American Red Cross experiences a bump in blood donations on Sept. 11 each year.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the day of the attacks, blood donations were 128% higher than normal. Since then, blood donations on 9/11 have ranged from 13% higher than normal to 104% higher, Red Cross spokeswoman Stephanie Millian said.

Furthermore, many blood drives across the country -- some even held on days other than Sept. 11 -- "are in memory of 9/11," Millian said.

The Tulare 9/11 blood drive started three years ago when Tulare Fire Department Battalion Chief Ken Dodson suggested a goal of 343 pints -- one for each firefighter in New York City who died when the Twin Towers went down. The drive reached that, and last year raised almost 800 pints. This year 1,142 donated; the goal was 1,000. To the delight of the Central Valley Blood Bank, the well-attended drive in Tulare attracted dozens of first-time donors, spokeswoman Chris Sorensen said.

"This is a chance to make such a tragic day as joyous as possible for so many in Valley hospitals," she said.