Sunday: Donate Blood, Save Lives At Marine Park’s Carmine Carro Community Center

Looking to do some good for the world this Sunday? Stop by the Carmine Carro Community Center in Marine Park (3000 Fillmore Avenue) between 12:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to donate blood. The drive is organized by the Knights of Columbus Saint Bernard Council 14269.

All you need to do is bring photo identification, be in generally good health, weigh at least 110 pounds and be between the ages of 16 and 76. That’s almost everybody, so eat a well-balanced meal that morning, and stop by the center to help save lives. Sixteen-year-olds require parental consent forms, available here.

Here are some facts from the New York Blood Center’s website, which underscore how important it is to donate the gift of life:

• 4.5 million Americans benefit from life-saving blood transfusions each year.
• 40,000 pints are transfused each day in the United States.
• New York Blood Center alone requires over 2,000 volunteer blood donations each day to meet the transfusion needs of patients in close to 200 New York and New Jersey hospitals.
• 1 out of every 3 people will require a life-saving transfusion sometime during their lifetime.
• Transfusion recipients include cancer patients, accident, burn and trauma victims, newborn babies, transplant patients, mothers delivering babies, surgery patients, chronically transfused patients suffering from sickle cell disease or thalassemia, etc.
• Much of today’s sophisticated medical care (transplants, heart surgeries, etc.) rely on blood transfusions.
• Car accident and trauma victims may need as many as 50 or more red cell transfusions.
• Severe burn victims may need as many as 20 platelet transfusions.
• Bone marrow transplants may require platelets from over 100 donors and red cells from over 20 people.
• Blood products are perishable: Donated red cells last only 42 days; Donated platelets last only 5 days; Plasma can be frozen for a year.
• The need for blood never takes a holiday.

For more information, contact (800) 933-2566, or to find other blood drives in the area call (800) 933-BLOOD.