By Ryan O’Connor ‘19

On Friday, November 2, seniors had the rewarding opportunity to donate blood at the annual Senior Blood Drive. The event was organized by the New York Blood Center, a non-profit and community based organization which works to provide blood to several hospitals in the tri-state area.  

The New York Blood Center was founded in 1964, and has since been looking for innovative ways to keep the community healthy and provide cutting-edge services in blood banking and transfusion medicine. More recently, the NYBC has served as an outlet to transport much- needed blood from donors to patients, especially in times of tragedy such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Since its inception, the organization has continued its mission to serve the community, and seniors had a chance to be a part of that life-saving mission on Friday.

“I wanted to help the community” said Kieran Connor ‘19. “I was expecting the donation process to be a little chaotic, but the nurses were very well trained and made it a smooth process.” 

As our region necessitates a vast supply of blood, every donation counted. Nikki, who works with the blood center, explained the impact of receiving donations during drives like the one at Chaminade. She noted, “It helps because it’s directly helping save lives in a profound way.”

Mr. Vincent Jeffrey ‘04 recounted the day as a big success, saying, “In my six years being involved with our blood drives, Chaminade students have always stepped up to help with the desperate need for blood in our area.” The blood contributed by the seniors totaled 82 pints. “Everyone who gave should know that all the blood donated is used and it is all used by people who depend on it immensely.”