Longtime donor gifts Red Cross special gift after no longer being able to donate

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A longtime blood donor found a special way to continue sharing a piece of himself despite no longer being able to donate.

Jim Wurst spent years going to the American Red Cross and donating platelets every two weeks.

However, a stroke back in 2022 forced him to stop. So, he decided to gift the Red Cross with a special quilt.

Wurst said he would often receive a t-shirt for donating, and he ended up racking up more than 30 over the years. So, he went to his friend Nancy and asked if she would help make a quilt from the t-shirts as a way to give back.

“He came over with a suitcase filled with t-shirts that he’d gotten from the Red Cross, so we went through them together and chose which ones would be the center of the quilt,” Nancy said. “This is a nice way to honor what he did and to honor the Red Cross for the work that they do.”

Wurst is happy to give back to the nonprofit since he no longer can donate blood.

“I wish everybody could give,” Wurst said. “I wish I could still give. It’s something they’ve given me, the T-shirts and all, so I figured I would give back to them.”

American Red Cross Account Manager Meg Heath said she is grateful for both the beautiful quilt and Wurst.

“It just means the world to us to have donors that have supported us throughout the years after so many donations of both blood and platelets,” Heath said. “He has impacted the lives of hundreds if not thousands, and if more people could step up to the plate and be more like Jim, we wouldn’t have this critical need for blood all the time, and we’d be in a much better place.”

Heath said they plan to hang the quilt right up front so everyone can see it as soon as they walk in.

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