JEC blood drive collects 56 pints in six hours.
The annual JEC blood drive successfully met its goal of bringing in fifty donors. NJ Blood Services was able to collect a total of 56 life-saving pints to help hospital patients in need of blood transfusions.
Of the fifty who registered, eight were deferred for a total of 42 pints of whole blood. Fourteen additional units were collected from seven individuals who donated through Alyx (a system which can collect twice as many red cells as it returns platelets and plasma back to the donor’s body).
Representatives from NJBS were stationed in the school’s gymnasium all afternoon and early evening. Generous members of the student body, faculty and local community were welcomed throughout the day to donate their blood to help those in need.
Mrs. Magdalena Mirea, the event’s manager, said this was her third drive at the Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy and that she always finds it a pleasure to work with their students and community.
“These units are precious to us,” said Genevieve Toscano, the recruiting manager at NJBS. “Right now is a bit of a slower time of year for blood drives and it’s harder to get people to attend. Your 56 units will touch the lives of over 150 people!”
RTMA of the JEC has been sponsoring NJBS drives since 1997. In those two decades, they’ve collected a total of 1155 units.
This year’s praiseworthy team of RTMA students who coordinated the event was chaired by Jonathan Silber (12th grade, Highland Park). His team of volunteers included Mendy Fine (11th grade, Staten Island), Etan Ohev-Shalom (11th grade, West Orange), Nachi Loew (10th grade, Highland Park) and Elchanan Preil (12th grade, Elizabeth.)