COMMUNITY BLOOD SERVICES ANNOUNCES GALA HONOREES Save Latin America, Local Doctor and Two Police Officers Recognized

October 15, 2011

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Community Blood Services' Foundation has announced that CBS 2 News Anchor Kristine Johnson will emcee at its 6th annual Trustees Gala on Saturday, October 15.

In celebration of the lifesaving work Community Blood Services conducts locally and around the world, the non-profit blood center will host this year�s fundraising Gala, �Around the Community, Around the World,� on Saturday, October 15 from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton, 200 Tice Boulevard. Proceeds will help support the center�s many lifesaving programs and services.

With Ms. Johnson�s support at the gala, Community Blood Services hopes to raise awareness of the need for blood and cord blood donations, as well as bone marrow registrations, in the community it serves.

"We are thrilled to have Kristine Johnson emceeing our Trustees' Gala this year," said Gala Chair John Uzzi. "Her commitment to the important cause of blood donation helps to encourage all donors in our community to become volunteer donors."

This year, Dr. Catherine A. Mazzola of NJ Pediatric Neurosurgical Associates is being honored at the Gala with the �Spirit of Community� award. The Bergen County resident is responsible for saving hundreds of children�s lives in and around the community.

Also being honored this year is Save Latin America, Inc. (SLA), along with its program director, Johnny Torres, and founder and chairman, Anthony Ibarria Sr. Save Latin America, based in Hudson County, New Jersey, provides services and information to Hispanics in the fields of education, health, government and business development.

In addition, two police officers who were injured in the line of duty and had lifesaving blood drives held in recognition of their brave work in the community are being recognized at the Gala. Those officers are Rachel Morgan of the Paramus Police Department and Gerald Veneziano of the Fairfield Police Department.

Community Blood Services, whose main donor center is located at 970 Linwood Avenue in Paramus, assists patients in 25 hospitals throughout New Jersey and New York by providing lifesaving blood products such as whole blood, platelets and plasma. It also provides stem cell and bone marrow donations to seriously ill patients throughout the U.S. and to 41 countries around the world.

Individual tickets can be purchased at $250 each, and tables of 10 are also available. For more information on tickets, sponsorship opportunities and the online event journal, contact Jennifer Wilkes at 201-895-8400 or [email protected], or visit www.cbsfoundationgala.com.

The glittering black-tie preferred event will include cocktails, a silent auction, dinner and dancing. Co-chairs of this year�s Gala are Tom Polen, worldwide president, BD Diagnostics-Diagnostic Systems, and John Uzzi, president of Roy W. Walters & Associates in Paramus.

ABOUT COMMUNITY BLOOD SERVICES (www.communitybloodservices.org) For more than 50 years, Community Blood Services, a not-for-profit organization, has been collecting, testing and distributing blood and blood products from volunteer community donors throughout New Jersey and New York. The organization also maintains one of the world�s largest bone marrow registries and operates both public (the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank) and private umbilical cord blood banks. It operates donor centers in Paramus and Lincoln Park (NJ) and in New Windsor (NY), and runs mobile blood drives throughout the region.