Assemblyman Al Stirpe partnered with the American Red Cross to host the 16th Annual Lifesavers Blood Drive to help combat summer shortages, which have been exacerbated due to the pandemic. Over 200 people participated, allowing the American Red Cross to collect a total of 151 units of blood, which will be used to help up to 453 people.
Despite the extreme heat and humidity, the annual blood drive was a huge success. The day-long event was held at Driver’s village and featured several community partners including the NYS Comptroller’s Office of Unclaimed Funds (OUF) which helped many residents search the OUF database for unclaimed funds and file claims; professional local musical artist performances, prizes, and giveaways throughout the day.
“We hold this Lifesavers Blood Drive every year to help the American Red Cross meet its blood donation needs and ensure they can help patients throughout the year,” said Stirpe. “Hosting this blood drive is not only a personal priority of mine every year, but also serves as a community-wide event that brings people from all walks of life together for a great cause. I want to thank the American Red Cross staff, The OUF staff, the Driver’s Village staff and the many businesses, local artists, and volunteers that helped make this year’s Lifesavers Blood Drive a tremendous success. I can’t stress enough how important it is to give blood if you’re able and I encourage residents to keep supporting the American Red Cross in any way they can.”
Blood and plasma units collected are essential to ensure patients can receive the lifesaving treatment they need, including for medical procedures, blood transfusions, and other emergency situations. Each unit of blood can help save up to three lives and the more diversity in the supply of blood types available to patients during these emergency situations, the better. The 16th Annual Lifesavers Blood Drive saw 20 first-time donors and 75 of the donated blood units were blood type O, which is a universal blood type and very welcomed, noted Stirpe.
For more information about the entire blood donation process or any other questions or concerns, you might have, visit the American Red Cross website at https://www.redcrossblood.org/ . Feel free to contact Stirpe’s office for help on this or any other community issue at 315-452-1115 or StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.
