TULSA, Okla — Miles of Kindness is an initiative started by Marie Forrestal and Lori Talbot.
The two women saw a crucial need they wanted to bring awareness to- encouraging people to donate blood.
To do that, they are now driving a trailer that aims to create partnerships surrounding the importance of giving blood.
“Our goal is 2,500 units of blood in basically 12 days," said Forrestal. "We're asking people to scan our QR code and then go or go onto our website, which is miles of kindness doc, and put in their zip code, find a place to donate blood, upload their picture. Tell us why they donated.”
At the beginning of this year, the American Red Cross declared a severe nationwide blood shortage, as hospitals became overburdened with a lack of supply.
Lori Talbot told 2 News she's had firsthand experiences that have shown her how important donating blood is.
“I have a 25-year-old daughter, when she was born, she was born at 27 weeks, she was very premature, and she needed three blood transfusions," she said. “What we didn't know was that as she was about to graduate high school, my husband, her dad, was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, and he battled for 26 months. And during his battle, it was platelet transfusions.”
While her husband has now passed on, she said the treatments he received due to blood donations helped him tremendously.
The Miles of Kindness trailer, known as "Rosie", has been traveling all around America, through the famous "Mother Road".
They stopped at Tulsa's Fire Station 4, right on Route 66 as well as Mother Road Market.
The women are also meeting with the Muscogee Creek Nation to collaborate with tribal nations.
It doesn't end there.
They’ll be making stops in Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, all the way to Santa Monica.
“I want to drive historic Route 66 because you know when this road was first here 100 years ago, people like stayed and talked, and they were kind," said Forrestal.
Talbot said she wated to help create a network that would allow everyone to easily donate.
"No matter where you are in the world, you can put in your zip code," she said. "If you want to donate blood, it will find you the location and make your appointment. And we don't want it to just be a one-time appointment. We want to create lifelong donors."
On top of all of the hard work the ladies have put into building their site and social media, they've also decided to tape their adventures for a film they hope to premiere in 2027.
“We want to do film festivals," said Forrestal. "We want to get this out as broadly as possible.”
For more info on how you can start donating, Miles of Kindness has more information and resources on their website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- 2 News Oklahoma on your schedule | Download on your TV, watch for free. How to watch on your streaming device
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
