Blood Drive in Mahopac Exceeds Goal of Donors

By Quinn Muller

The Mahopac Fire Department partnered up with State Senator Pete Harckham (D/Lewisboro) to host a blood drive last week. The event took place as the New York Blood Center recently announced a blood emergency in the state.

The New York Blood Center is 2,100 units short of the necessary levels needed for hospitals to function smoothly. To meet this quota, Harckham’s sixth blood drive successfully exceeded a goal of 40 donors, a goal that could save more than 120 lives.

Aside from that event, Harckham hosted five other blood drives, 15 food drives, and 10 Narcan trainings—with another soon in Kent.

From 1 to 7 p.m., donors visited the Route 6 department to help New York hospitals. Upon arrival, they were checked for identification, and it was determined if they were fit for donation. Donors gave blood for about 20 minutes each and stayed in observation for another 10 while they were treated to a large collection of Girl Scout cookies.

Camilo Rubio, Account Manager for the New York Blood Center, outlined the tedious but meaningful process of setting up and taking down the drives. He listed two reasons why people are hesitant to donate: they don’t know how important it is, and, of course, needles.

Countering these two ideas, Rubio stressed the significance of donating blood. It is not malleable or artificial, and it is desperately needed in hospitals. When you think of donating you typically think of organs, but donating blood is an easier way to help out hospitals and save lives—three per donation.

As for the needles, his advice was simply to “think about the lives you’re saving.”

Rick Pezzullo

Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/