“You never know whose life you’re going to save.”

By Ehrett Ramey

The American Red Cross partnered with Iona College Wed., Jan 30, to host a blood drive. Iona students came out in force, with close to 100 people participating in the collection. Pierre Eliezer, a junior at Iona College, has been participating in blood drives at Iona for three semesters.

 “You never know whose life you’re going to save,” he said. 

The Jan. 30 drive was so busy that the Red Cross called upon staff members from Albany, New York, 150 miles away, to drive down to lend a hand. Debbie Kellogg, a Red Cross volunteer nurse from Albany, was excited about the turnout and declared the event a success.

“It has been very steady and we’ve had a lot of double donations, which is great,” she said.

Double donors are people with sought-after O-Negative, O-Positive, A-Negative and B-Negative blood types, which is in short supply. A special machine is used to allow these donors to safely donate two units of red blood cells during one donation.  

Only 38 percent of Americans are eligible to donate blood, and more than 44,000 blood donations a day are needed to keep up with the demand for blood. So please sign up at www.redcrossblood.org and donate to the Red Cross; each pint of blood has the potential to save three lives.

The American Red Cross thanks the Iona College students, New Rochelle community members and Red Cross volunteers that made this blood drive successful.