CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- It takes a small amount of time to sit down and donate blood, but for children like Jeremiah Caldwell, the impact of each ounce donated is huge.
It was back in December that Jeremiah was diagnosed with stage three cancer. Recently, his hemoglobin dropped to critical levels and left him in need of a blood donation.
"Blood is a life or death situation so especially with the kids right now that are in these situations like Jeremiah," said his mother, Alycia Caldwell. "I am a registered nurse and I had been closely monitoring his hemoglobin as well as closely monitoring the blood supply in Richmond."
In her search for a supply, she noticed that blood donations were very low and especially low for Jeremiah's rare blood type.
"He’s O negative which is the universal donor but he can only receive from O negative," she explained.
So she called out to her colleagues and her community for help.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., friends and family poured into Bryant & Stratton College in Chesterfield to donate blood.
"This is our opportunity to celebrate our own internal family. And so we're excited to do that we're partnering with the Red Cross," said Rayford Grady, the college's Director of Admissions.
Caldwell said they reached their donation goal pretty early in the event.
“Our original goal was 35 donors this morning we were at 68 donors, so we are far beyond our goal today and we are just happy to see everybody," she said.
Some of those that donated said though they didn't know him, they felt compelled to do what they could in Jeremiah's fight against the dinosaur.
"Nobody can do everything. Everybody can do something. It's a very small thing. But it makes you feel good," said Sally Harrison who was there donating with her husband.
'Fight against the dinosaur' was the theme for today's blood drive and began with Jeremiah's outlook on his battle against cancer.
"When Jeremiah got the diagnosis, he made the analogy of fighting a dinosaur," said Grady.
It's a fight Jeremiah's mom says the support from her community will help win.
"I’m actually very surprised at how supportive my colleagues have been, the community has been and my students both current and alumni have been, it means a lot," she said.
The fight against the dinosaur continues, so if you were not able to donate at the blood drive you can still give through their GoFundMe.
