On Sunday, November 13th, St. Anselm held its third blood drive of the year for the New York Blood Center, making the St. Anselm Parish among the top Brooklyn parishes in blood donations. The St. Anselm Holy Name Society, whose members greeted the donors as they came in and thanked them as they left, sponsored the event.
More than three dozen people came to the Meletia Hall, which is especially important for the New York Blood Center because the hall allows for the donation by the ALYX Component Collection System, in which constituent elements of a donor’s blood are separated, allowing for multiple uses.
The process of registering donors has now come totally into the 21st century as there are no longer any hard copy forms. Donors entered data at a table with a set of dedicated laptops. Those who already had blood donor cards swiped them under scanners to call up and update their medical histories: height, weight, recent trips and surgeries, etc. Donors who had previously given blood, but who hadn’t brought their blood donor’s card with them, and new donors needed to show photo ID, usually a New York State drivers license or non-drivers ID to have their donor number called up or be given a number so that they could enter their information. The data was instantaneously transmitted to laptops at the station for taking medical histories where New York Blood Center personnel reviewed the information with each donor before the blood donation was made. Aftewards, the donors fueled up on sugars and carbs at the canteen table – Oreos, Lorna Doons, popcorn crisps, and fruit juices to bring their blood sugar and blood pressure levels back up to normal.
How thankful the many New Yorkers will be for the gift of life made possible by these thoughtful, caring donors – “Thank You” to the donors at this time of Thanksgiving.
For information about future blood drives in our area contact the New York Blood Center, go to:
The New York Blood Center
1-800-933-BLOOD (2566)
www.nybloodcenter.org
All the best,
The St. Anselm Publicity Committee