Coeur d'Alene woman donates blood again after sister-in-law's cancer battle
Amanda Strom returned to Vitalant in Coeur d'Alene after her sister-in-law needed cancer-related transfusions, a reminder that one blood donation can help keep hospital care moving.
Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood, and in Coeur d'Alene that urgency had a local face Friday morning when Amanda Strom walked into the Vitalant Blood Donation Center to give again. Strom said she returned to donating after her sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and needed emergency blood transfusions, a personal experience that pushed her back into a habit she had kept up on and off for years.
Her appointment came as World Blood Donor Day was being observed June 14, 2026, with the World Health Organization rallying around the theme, “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.” The WHO says the day honors voluntary, unpaid donors and underscores the need for safe, sufficient blood for emergencies, childbirth, surgery, cancer treatment and other serious conditions. In practical terms, Vitalant says more than 40,000 units of blood, platelets and plasma are needed each day in the United States.
The need is especially sharp in summer, when school and campus blood drives drop off as classes end. Research has shown those drives are a major source of donations, and the pandemic made the impact even clearer, with more than 4,600 blood drives canceled nationwide and 143,600 units lost. For Kootenai County and the rest of North Idaho, that means a single appointment can help steady a supply that often gets tighter just as hospitals continue their daily demand.
Vitalant has said its Inland Northwest operation supplies more than 25 hospitals and nearly 200 lifesaving units of blood every day. Earlier reporting said the region needs 200 units a day to meet hospital needs, and a 2023 shortage left just one to two days of supply on hand. That same reporting said the Coeur d'Alene site is the region’s only fixed donation center, making local donors essential to keeping surgeries, trauma care and cancer treatment moving without delay.
Strom said she used to donate at the Kroc Center when she taught Zumba there, and after an injury she now gives blood at Vitalant’s Coeur d'Alene office whenever she can. Vitalant is offering a June donor promotion from June 1 through June 30, 2026: eligible donors who schedule an appointment with code JUNEGIFT-2026-V and are enrolled in the rewards program receive a $15 Rewards gift card. For Kootenai County residents who want to help, the clearest path is still the simplest one: make the appointment, show up, and keep the blood supply from running short.
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