PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) An Oregon man marked a major milestone Saturday morning, donating his 100th gallon of platelets to the American Red Cross enough to save over 400 lives.

David Schapiro, 62, a bus driver for the Hillsboro School District, told local affiliate KOIN that from a young age, he was “ingrained” to do good when he could. He said his blood donation journey began when he was a young man in the U.S. Navy, when he and his friends would frequent a local donation center, then go out for a beer.

“Then when we came to Oregon, it was kind of just a continuation of that because I’ve lived in a lot of places being a Navy brat and then being in the Navy,” he said. “So I moved around, but that’s where I kind of got started.”

Schapiro noted he first started donating whole blood, the most flexible type of donation, containing red and white blood cells, as well as platelets, all suspended in plasma. But when someone at the Red Cross mentioned platelet donation as an option for him, it piqued his interest.

“At the time, I didn’t even know what it was, so I asked them, and they basically told me, ‘Well, the difference between the two is that platelets are used for basically cancer patients, people who have leukemia and things like that.’ And I have a sister who has had cancer three times. So this kind of struck a little personal with me,” Schapiro said.

Platelet donation can benefit anywhere from two to four people in need, whereas whole blood only benefits one person, according to the Red Cross. Schapiro says it is a more lengthy process.

“Platelets takes anywhere from two to three hours because basically you sit there, you get put in a big chair, there’s a machine next to you, they take the blood out,” he noted. “It’s put in basically a centrifuge, they spit it, they separate all the products from it and then they give you your blood back. Then they start the whole process over and over and over again until they get what they need.”

Nearly 30 years worth of Schapiro’s donations has culminated into an overall total of 100 gallons – or 800 pounds – of platelets. But to Schapiro, those are just numbers until you put them in perspective.

“If you were to take a 100-gallon fish tank and fill that up with with product, I mean, that’s a large fish tank, so I kind of think back to it and go, you know, it’s 25-gallon buckets worth of product that could potentially have saved 400 people’s lives,” he said. “So that’s what it means. It’s not so much what I’ve given. It’s the fact that there are 400 people out there that it could have saved.”

Since you can donate platelets up to 24 times a year, Schapiro says both he and his wife have made a tradition of donating every two weeks – all while holding onto the mantra “Because I can.”

“I know there are some people who do it for money and and to each his own, but I’ve always felt, if you can help, you should help,” Schapiro stated. “I’m fortunate enough where I can help somebody and I can save possibly two to four people. And I don’t need the money, so I would do it regardless if they paid me or not. I just choose to volunteer.”

To anyone interested in or maybe even hesitant to donate platelets for whatever reason, Schapiro quotes the slogan of an iconic Beaverton-based company.

“Just do it,” he said. “There’s no reason not to. It’s two-and-a-half hours of your life. Everybody has time in their week or month where they’re doing nothing, that they’re sitting watching TV, reading a book, doing literally nothing. If you have that time, spend that two-and-a-half hours saving a life.”

A spokesperson for Red Cross Cascades said Schapiro made his own cake to celebrate, plus the phlebotomists working with him also bought him a cake. Additionally, they say his most recent donation will help up to two adults or four babies.

Even with his landmark 100-gallon donation, Schapiro says he is now all the more motivated to up the ante.

“If we stay on pace – because I’m 62 going on 63 – I might have to be 95 before I make it to 200,” he said. “But I have a new goal.”