February is American Heart Health Month! Donate Blood for �Walking for Fitness� Kit and Health Screenings!

Feb. 11, 18 & 25, 2012

�

Anyone who makes a lifesaving blood or platelet donation on Saturdays in February at a Community Blood Services� donor center in New Jersey or New York will receive a �Walking for Fitness� kit in recognition of American Heart Health Month, along with invaluable screenings to help track their heart health.

Beginning Saturday, February 11th, donors will receive a pedometer with belt clip and Pocketpal log book in a mesh zip-top pouch with caribiner that can also hold a house or car key during a walk. The Pocketpal includes information on the benefits of walking, how to boost those benefits, a checklist for starting a successful walking program, and a two-month calendar for recording daily minutes, miles and steps walked.

In addition, literature will be provided by The Valley Hospital�s Center for Women�s Heart Health and its Men�s Heart Center about the heart health programs offered at the centers located in Bergen County, New Jersey. The centers are partnering with Community Blood Services in February to raise awareness and educate donors about the importance of diet, fitness and regular health screenings to a healthy heart, and the importance of donating blood to help patients with heart-related illnesses. Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the U.S.

Click here or call toll free 866-228-1500 to make an appointment to donate and get your fitness kit on Saturday, February 11, 18 or 25.

In New Jersey, donors can donate at the Paramus donor center, 970 Linwood Avenue West, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or at the Lincoln Park donor center, 63 Beaverbrook Road, Suite 304, from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In New York, donors can donate at the New Windsor donor center, 575 Hudson Valley Avenue, Suite 206, 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

Patrice Foresman, director of donor recruitment at Community Blood Services, noted a heart surgery patient can need up to six units of blood and six units of platelets. �Our dedicated donors help us to ensure we always have blood on the shelves for heart patients and others who need it at our community hospitals,� she noted.

In addition, as the founding Patient Advocate for The Center for Women�s Heart Health, Foresman said she is �proud to report that the center has screened more than 3,000 women and men as part of their free heart-risk assessment program.�

Patricia Delaney, director of The Valley Hospital�s Cardiac Outreach/Center for Women�s Heart Health/Men�s Heart Center, urged donors to call 201-447-8125 for their free risk assessment at one of the centers. �While donating blood saves lives, taking a free risk assessment at one of our centers just may save yours,� she said.

Foresman reminded donors that that they will receive a variety of health screenings at the time of their donations, including blood pressure and non-fasting cholesterol and glucose screenings. Monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels can help alert someone to a possible heart problem.

All blood types are currently needed to meet the needs of patients in the more than 20 hospitals Community Blood Services serves in New Jersey and New York, especially O negative which can be transfused to all patients. Donors must be 17-75 years old (16 years old with parental consent) and weigh at least 110 pounds.