ImpactLife celebrates 50 years in Davenport
The parking lot at ImpactLife in Davenport was full Tuesday morning as volunteers flocked in for a special celebration.
The organization marked its 50th anniversary in Davenport with a proclamation from Davenport Mayor Mike Matson proclaiming ImpactLife Week in the city and a ribbon cutting to honor the occasion.
ImpactLife CEO Mike Parejko said the company has more than 800 employees across Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri.
"We serve as the vital link between the generous volunteer blood donors who provide the blood donations and the healthcare professionals who deliver the blood transfusions to the patients in need," he said. "It is truly an honor to stand here on the shoulder of giants who came before us."
Few know the importance more than people who have been impacted by blood donation, as is the case for Jessica McKearney. In 2019, her son Hudson , just shy of his second birthday, was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) CNS2a, an aggressive cancer.
"The cancer was taking over his bones, and he was unable to produce normal cells," she said. "When we took him to the University of Iowa, we assumed it was leukemia based on his lab work, but he had to receive two units of red blood cells and platelets that day as soon as he got there, just to stabilize him."
McKearney said for Hudson's specific cancer type, he needed to endure not only chemotherapy but lumbar punctures.
"Because of of blood donors, he was actually able to even undergo cancer treatment, because we were killing everything in his body," she said. "Fortunately, during his treatment, there was blood on the shelves at that time, and that was because of blood donors."
Prior to Hudson's diagnosis, McKearney was not a regular blood donor and didn't understand the importance and need, she said. It wasn't until a transfusion was the only way to help her son that she understood fully.
During his three-and-a-half years of treatment, Hudson underwent numerous transfusions to help him reach remission. The McKearney family has since established the Hudson Strong Foundation to assist families facing pediatric cancer to offer support during their fight.
"We are forever grateful for blood donors, and since he is currently in remission, he's off chemotherapy. He is seven years old, and in first grade. He's doing very well, but we realize that blood donation and advocating for this is going to be a part of our lives forever," she said.
ImpactLife, formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, started in 1974 with the merger of the Scott and Rock Island County Medical Society blood banks.
At the time, it was located on East 15th Street in Davenport. Two years later it moved to the southwest corner of Locust Street and Kimberly Avenue in Davenport. That facility was added onto multiple times, until the team outgrew it as well.
In 2004, the center moved to its current location at 5500 Lakeview Parkway, meaning this year also marks 20 years in the new facility, Parejko noted. The blood center ultimately changed its name to ImpactLife in 2021.
"The size and the scope of our blood center and even our name has changed, but our appreciation for our donors, our sponsor groups, our hospital partners, volunteers, and especially our Impact Life team remains as strong as ever," Parejko said.
