The Riverhead community responded to the emergency call for blood donations yesterday at St. Isidore’s school, where more than 50 people rolled up their sleeves and gave the gift of life.
“This was the most we’ve ever had,” said St. Isidore’s kindergarten teacher Cathleen Walter, who’s been hosting the annual blood drive at the school for nine years.
Among the donors yesterday were 2011 St. Isidore alumnus Edmund MillWater, 17, and his mom Amber DiGangi, of Mastic Beach.
“I’m here because of my dad,” explained Edmund, a first-time donor. “Blood donors saved his life.”
Edmund’s father suffered a pulmonary embolism last year at age 35, DiGangi said. He needed six bags of plasma. “He wouldn’t have made it without the plasma.”
Members of Walter’s kindergarten class, dressed in “scrubs,” helped entertain donors and presented them with hand-made thank-you notes. Older students distributed snacks and juice to donors.
Representatives of New York Blood Center speak to her class in advance of the blood drive each year to explain what it’s about and why it’s so important. They teach the children that there is no synthetic substitute for human blood and without the generosity of donors, lives would be lost, Walter said.
New York Blood Center said last week blood supplies reached perilously low levels due to the blizzard, which cost the organization an estimated 3,000 pints — prompting the emergency appeal.
To find out where and when you can give blood, visit the N.Y. Blood Center website.
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