Emergency Blood Drives in Brooklyn

In addition to the many ways you can help victims of Sandy, the New York Blood Center has cancelled the majority of regularly scheduled blood drives, but have been running emergency blood/platelet drives since Friday and will be continuing them through tomorrow.

There are many locations in NY and NJ. Here are the closest ones to our area:

Brooklyn Donor Center
120 Lawrence Street
9:30am-4:30pm today
12:30-7:30pm tomorrow
This is a straight shot from our neighborhood now that the Q is running to/from Jay St. in both directions.

Kings Plaza Shopping Center
5100 Avenue U
12-6pm today
not open tomorrow

If you can’t make it to one of the drives, you can schedule your own donation.

Obviously, they’re almost done for today, but if you have some time tomorrow, the need seems pretty great. And for those of you who have never given platelets, this is the time to do it. It’s a lengthier process (1.5 to 2 hours) than a regular blood donation, but fewer people do it — so it’s an extra-special thing to do if you can.

REMINDER: Daylight Savings Time ended today, so you may have more time to get down there today than you think!