By:Carrie James
School sees more than 100 blood donors in wake of Sept. 11 tragedy
For the past six years, Bowling Green Elementary School has hosted an annual blood drive in January. This year, however, Bowling Green parent and blood drive coordinator Kim Livermore knew she needed to schedule a special one in October.
"This drive was put together with about three weeks notice," Livermore said. "This is a special drive as a response to the events on Sept. 11. The principal called me and several parents called as well asking for a blood drive."
With the help of the Long Island Blood Service's staff and many members of the Bowling Green community, more than 100 people came to donate blood during the special blood drive in the school's gymnasium.
One of the first in line, as always according to Livermore, was school Principal Maureen Donohue. Donohue has been a regular blood donor for many years and welcomed the opportunity to host blood drives when the Long Island Blood Service first approached Bowling Green officials.
"I've always been a blood donor, and it became especially important to me when my husband had leukemia," Donohue said. "This is an emergency blood drive due to the need after Sept. 11, but we do have every year a blood drive in January."
The Bowling Green drives started because Long Island Blood Service was seeking new ways to find donors. They approached PTAs throughout Long Island. Bowling Green has readily participated ever since.
Livermore, whose daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at age 5, has served as coordinator and scheduled two donation drives a year until last year.
More than 150 people turn out for each drive, she said, and the Long Island Blood Service typically leaves with an average of 90 pints of blood.
This time around, 135 parents and community members set up appointments to donate blood, and many others walked in, Livermore said. Many donors, she said, had never taken part in the Bowling Green blood drives.
"This has definitely been a success," she said. "I have a hundred people that I've never heard from before wanting to donate."
Livermore sent out notices with the Bowling Green students and posted fliers throughout the community to let people know about the drive, which ran from 3:30 to 8:45 p.m.
People from throughout the community went through a mini-screening that included answering medical questions and a quick test of blood pressure and temperature. The whole process, Livermore said, takes about an hour, although the actual donation takes about 10 minutes.
A regular at the blood drives at Bowling Green Elementary, Sandy Messina, a Bowling Green parent, came to this blood drive because she felt, like many others, that she needed to help. "That's why we scheduled this drive," she said.
Phyllis Dindoni tried to donate for the first time at the Bowling Green blood drive because she had a rare blood type. Unfortunately, she was not allowed to give because she had a mild fever.
Many others, however, did.
"I was motivated by the tragedy," said Susan Zimbler, a regular donor with Bowling Green's blood drive in January.
