Video: Red Cross says Blackwater saved 600 people

The American Red Cross has credited Blackwater with saving 600 lives, thanks to the company's employee-led blood drive. WAVY-TV, the NBC affiliate in Norfolk/Portsmouth, Virginia, has the story. (For more, see our February 2 post below.)

Red Cross says Blackwater saved 600 lives

News station WAVY reports that the American Red Cross is honoring Blackwater with a special plaque (pictured left). Georgia Donaldson of the Mid Atlantic region Red Cross explained:

The people here at Blackwater go above and beyond in trying to sponsor blood drives during times of the year when we need them the most.

As WAVY-TV reports in its video broadcast, the American Red Cross credited Blackwater with saving 600 lives from its blood drives.

Erik Prince, founder and CEO of Blackwater, pointed out that this sort of work is typical of the company's ethos:

I'm proud of the folks we have here. We have a great team, they constantly go above and beyond the call of duty, they give back and they're giving to their local community here.... We try to create a venue for smart innovative folks to do good work here and this was an idea that came from our medical department. They saw a need for the community to receive more blood, so we made it available and our folks answered the call.