The Monthly Blood Drive in West Milford
Partners With Community Blood Services October 20, 2103
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Volunteer Donor Bobby Schwarze of West Milford
WEST MILFORD, NJ - Community Blood Services in partnership with the Monthly Blood Drive invite donors to make their life-giving whole blood, platelet and plasma donations at the long-running, award-winning blood drive in Passaic County.
The next Monthly Blood Drive is on Sunday, October 20 from 8:30 to 2 p.m. at the First Aid Squad Building, 605 Ridge Road. No appointments are required for whole blood donations and early birds and first-time donors are welcome. Those wishing to make platelet or plasma donations should meet with Jim Gilligan, founder and chairman of the Monthly Blood Drive, at Sunday�s drive so their donations can be scheduled for next month�s Monthly Blood Drive.
Eligible donors should be 17 years old (or 16 with parental permission). All donors should eat a good meal before donating and bring their ID.
Call 201-251-3703 for more information about the Monthly Blood Drive and �Like� the Monthly Blood Drive on Facebook.
The first session of the Monthly Blood Drive was held in June 1999. Since then it has been recognized by local, county state and professional blood collection organizations for its continued success. The Monthly Blood Drive was honored in 2006 by America�s Blood Centers with The Larry Frederick Award for outstanding service to the community.
Blood and blood products collected at the Monthly Blood Drive and at other Community Blood Services� collection sites are used by patients in more than 18 hospitals and trauma centers in New Jersey and New York. In addition to whole blood, donors can donate platelets (used for cancer patients, open heart surgery and organ transplants), double red cells (used for surgical patients and anemia) and plasma (used for trauma and burn victims and blood disorders).
According to Gilligan, what makes Community Blood Services� efforts stand out is its desire to not only collect blood but to keep the donors involved in the process after the needle is removed from their arms.
�Community Blood Services has several programs for recruiting specific types of donors, such as the Special Delivery Club to meet the needs of the tiniest hospital patients and the MVP (Most Valuable Plasma) donor club so that lifesaving plasma can be collected for trauma and burn victims,� Gilligan noted.
�Every type of donation is appreciated but Community Blood Services has a �smart� collection model that tries to meet the needs of the population it serves. Blood is always in short supply so an efficiently managed collection system makes every donation that much more valuable," added Gilligan.
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