By Haeven Butler, volunteer contributor, American Red Cross North Texas Region

February 17th is Random Act of Kindness Day where we’re highlighting the generosity of one of our donors, The Moody Foundation. The Moody Foundation was established in 1942 by W.L. Moody, Jr. and Libbie Shearn Moody with the mission to “empower Texas communities to thrive and prosper.” With the vision, “Building a Bigger, Better Future For Texans,” the Foundation has awarded more than $1.8 billion in grants throughout the state that have educated, healed, nurtured and inspired many people that live in Texas.

Over the past year, COVID-19 has led to many challenges in our day to day services at the American Red Cross. During these unprecedented times, we took on additional expenses in order to meet the needs of our clients as we had before the pandemic. Not only did The Moody Foundation donate  $150,000 in April of 2020 in support of our service delivery in North Texas, but they also provided a $300,000 gift in July designated towards our Red Cross Antibody Testing. At the time, this was the single largest donation made towards our Antibody Testing and inspired other philanthropic leaders to follow suit. In both cases, The Moody Foundation acted as one of our strongest partners in the North Texas Region and allowed us to continue to provide our critical mission work.

“As COVID-19 continues to impact every facet of our lives, the Moody Foundation is committed to working with partners like the American Red Cross to navigate through this pandemic together,” said Frances Moody-Dahlberg, chairman and executive director of the Moody Foundation. “We are honored to help fund this COVID-19 antibody testing initiative in Texas and hope it will help the American Red Cross and other public health officials in their search for a potential COVID-19 treatment.”   

More than 2.9 million donations have been tested in 46 states between June 15th and January 23rd. Of these results, over 5.7% have tested positive to the COVID-19 antibody. These tests not only allowed blood donors to better understand if they possessed the antibodies, but also allowed public health officials to better understand the prevalence based on ZIP code.

Red Cross antibody tests has also proved helpful to patients suffering from COVID-19 through the use of convalescent plasma products. Plasma from whole blood donations that test positive for COVID-19 antibodies – using two different antibody tests – may be used to help current coronavirus patients in need of convalescent plasma transfusions.

The American Red Cross would like to say thank you to The Moody Foundation for providing us with assistance during these trying times. To join The Moody Foundation in support of the American Red Cross Blood Services, make a donation or schedule your appointment to give blood at redcross.org.

About the Moody Foundation

The Moody Foundation was established by W.L. Moody, Jr. and Libbie Shearn Moody in 1942 to share their good fortune and make a difference in the lives of the people of Texas. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.8 billion in grants throughout the state to organizations that have educated, healed, nurtured and inspired generations of Texans. The Moody Foundation continues with a board of three trustees: Frances Moody-Dahlberg, Ross Moody and Elizabeth Moody. Learn more at MoodyF.org and follow the Foundation on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.