As the nation counts down to America\u2019s 250th anniversary, Central Texas is spotlighting residents making a difference in their communities, including Tom Wheeler, a volunteer driver with \u201cWe Are Blood\u201d who helps ensure donated blood reaches patients in need across the region.<\/p>\n
Wheeler spends at least one day a week racing against the clock, transporting blood between donation sites and the organization\u2019s main processing center on North Lamar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m one of these people that loves to drive,\u201d Wheeler said.<\/p>\n
Inside the facility, Wheeler prepares for the day\u2019s route by loading insulated containers used to safely transport donated blood.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ll get the empty ice chests and load them in the vehicle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From there, he hits the road, traveling to cities including Llano, Taylor, Lockhart, Bastrop, and sometimes closer routes like Round Rock… depending on where supplies are needed most.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is to come in, get a vehicle, drive to wherever the blood needs to be picked up and bring it back,\u201d Wheeler said.<\/p>\n
Once collected, the donations are rushed back to the \u201cWe Are Blood\u201d facility, where processing must happen quickly to preserve their lifesaving potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a need for it in our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The urgency is constant. Blood must be returned to the main location within four hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlood is a very vital precious resource, and you can\u2019t delay the delivery of it,\u201d Wheeler said.<\/p>\n
For Wheeler, the mission is deeply personal. His connection to blood donation began years ago after his late wife went through a health crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe required a heart transplant about two and a half years into our marriage, and I really saw the need for blood and I\u2019ve been a regular donor for years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That experience inspired him to go beyond donating and into volunteering as a transporter when he learned the organization needed help on the logistics side.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne time when I was donating I saw that they needed transportation specialists and that was right up my alley,\u201d Wheeler said.<\/p>\n
Now, every trip he takes represents more than just a delivery route…it\u2019s part of a life-saving chain he knows personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just happy that I get to do it, I feel like I\u2019m helping out and I know they\u2019ve helped me out in the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Wheeler, the work is simple but meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just like a little, vital part of the whole system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
And that system, powered by donors and volunteers alike, continues working quietly behind the scenes – keeping hearts beating across Central Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the nation counts down to America\u2019s 250th anniversary, Central Texas is spotlighting residents making a difference in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2143,110742,103864,27,29,28,110741,110743],"class_list":["post-305644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-central-texas","tag-donated-blood","tag-processing-center","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-tom-wheeler","tag-volunteer-driver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}