Pampan Zhang: Boston, Massachusetts

About 10 years ago, my mother faced a life or death situation when her kidney failed after three years of dialysis. Fortunately, luck was on our side. She had waited long enough to be far up on the transplant list. The doctors were able to acquire kidneys from a donor who was in a tragic car accident just hours before, and the hospital had just enough of my mother's type blood to undergo the surgery that saved her life. Everything came together for my mother that day, and we were extremely fortunate, but just as easily, that day could have been the worst day of my life. Of all the factors that saved my mother's life that day, only one can really be helped. I can't make the transplant list shorter or make it move faster. I can't help when or how many organs are donated, but I can donate blood. The person who donated their blood to the hospital that used it for my mother's surgery saved her life. I want to be that person who saves lives.

Jesse and Brian were the best. When I got to the tent in the mornings, I would count out 150 black wristbands, so that we had them ready for when the people who had a LifeSaving voucher from donating blood would come to the tent to exchange it for a wristband. I would helped wristband those with vouchers, and usually, there would be a rush of people in the first few minutes before it would slow down. We usually didn’t run out of black wristbands. In Oceanport, New Jersey, however, once the doors opened, so did the floodgates, and a stampede of people poured over to the MusicSavesLives tent. Just ten minutes after doors opened, we faced a line of hundreds of kids hoping that they were part of the first 150 who would get that black wristband and the backstage privileges that came with it. It was inspiring to see them so excited about trading in their vouchers for a wristband. Once the initial rush of wristbanding was over, I would hang out at the tent and hand out the free MSL music download cards and the MSL stickers encouraging people to text donations to us for a chance to win $100 from Vans, while informing everyone what MSL does. I would fill water bottles for our donors and cart the water jugs over to catering to fill them once they were empty. Brian made me bring water to all the bandmembers who came throughout the day to have signings, but it was all good. The bands were all so gracious. At the end of the day, I helped Jesse and Brian pack up the tent by folding up all the panels. It was really fun, and I miss it already.

Every day was super hot, but that’s summer for ya. It felt so good being under the tent because it was pretty much the only shade available. We were always set up close to a stage, so I could watch bands play that I would’ve never watched before. In Columbia, we had such a sweet spot because we were set up right by the Main Stage, so I was able to catch Anarbor, Bring Me the Horizon, Andrew W.K., Every Time I Die, We the Kings, and a bunch of others right from the comfort of the tent. We were set up right next to several other non-profit organization tents, so it was really interesting seeing how all these organizations were reaching out to different people through Warped Tour to try to make a bigger difference.

I would say that before you get there, really understand what MSL does and how they do it. Most of the people who stop by the tent have no idea what MSL is and that they could have donated blood in exchange for lots of awesome privileges. By informing them of the fact that donating blood one time can save three lives, it really opens their eyes to a simple, yet magnanimously effective way of making a difference and saving lives. Also, of course, HAVE FUN! It is Warped Tour, after all. Hold conversations with the people who you come across. Ask them what bands their seeing and suggest that they donate next year so that they can see those bands up close!