On March 23, 2022, the date designated by 7×24 Exchange International as “International Data Center Day,” and the date designated by the American Red Cross as “Red Cross Giving Day,” more than 100 Data Center Coalition (DCC) members joined staff from Loudoun Economic Development and volunteers from the American Red Cross of Loudoun and Prince William Counties at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, Virginia, to celebrate the #DataCentersSleeveUp campaign.
Loudoun County state and local elected officials also attended the celebration to support the initiative, including Virginia State Senator John Bell, Virginia Delegates Irene Shin and Suhas Subramanyam, Loudoun Board Chair Phyllis Randall, and Loudoun Supervisors Sylvia Glass, Caleb Kershner, Mike Turner, and Kristen Umstattd.
QTS sponsored food during the event, and Loudoun Economic Development provided event t-shirts. InterGlobix Magazine was a media partner.
DCC’s Community Engagement Committee launched the #DataCentersSleeveUp Blood Drive Campaign in partnership with Loudoun Economic Development and the American Red Cross of Loudoun and Prince William Counties on March 1, 2022. March has been recognized as Red Cross Month since 1943 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first national Red Cross Month proclamation recognizing those who give back through the American Red Cross.
The campaign provided data center teams in Northern Virginia and across the country with the opportunity to help address a national blood crisis ,which the American Red Cross indicated earlier this year is “the worst blood shortage in over a decade, posing a concerning risk to patient care.” The effort highlighted the importance of ensuring adequate blood supply in the communities where data center teams live and work and in raising awareness around the need to address our current critical national blood shortage.
During the campaign, 12 DCC member companies established corporate landing websites using the American Red Cross “SleevesUp” platform where their teams and partners could sign-up to donate blood. Participating DCC member companies included: Aligned Data Centers, AWS, CloudHQ, CyrusOne, Digital Realty, Equinix, Microsoft Corporation, QTS, Sabey Data Centers, STACK Infrastructure, Vantage Data Centers, and Yondr Group.
Collectively, participants logged a total of 502 blood pledges, enough to save approximately 1500 lives according to the American Red Cross. During the March 23 event, Equinix was recognized as the top donor, followed by AWS and then QTS. DCC represents and empowers leading data center owners and operators through public policy advocacy, collaborator education, and community engagement. The organization represents and advances the interests of the data center industry by aggregating industry expertise and thought leadership, partnering with policymakers and other collaborators, and supporting communities where data center teams live and work through active engagement.