As supplies reach critically low levels, NYBC
and New York Mets expand fan blood drive
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Five weeks after their semi-annual
blood drive in January, the New
York Blood Center and the New York
Met hosted a second Mets Fan Blood
Drive on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 10 locations
across Queens and Brooklyn.
The blood supply was already
critically low due to the COVID-19
pandemic, but it took another hit because
of the recent snowstorms. The
New York Blood Bank’s supply has
dropped to 1,500 units of blood, and
the organization urges New Yorkers
to donate blood, especially O-blood
donors.
The Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale
saw a moderate turnout of donors
who received a voucher for a
pair of tickets to see the Mets, a free
limited-edition fan T-shirt, and an
entry into a sweepstake for signed
memorabilia.
Greg Bolanos from Forest Hills,
who donated for the second time,
wanted to do his part to help out and
plans on donating blood regularly.
“There is a need with the global
pandemic. I think if you can help
people out, why not?” he said.
Judith Rollhaus not only donated
blood for the 20th time, but also
joined Be The Match, a bone marrow
registry.
“I think it is important to be there
for another and do what we can to
take care of each other,” she said.
Jair Thompson, the supervisor of
recruitment for the New York Blood
Center and whose organization Be
The Match has an office at the center,
explained that attending blood
drives is a way to find donors to join
the bone marrow registry, which
currently only has 22 million members
The NYCB and the Mets hosted a blood drive on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
nationwide.
He continued to explain that
there is a dire need for people to
join the registry, especially African
Americans, who make up only 4 percent
of the network, while Hispanics
and Asians make up 10 percent and 5
percent, respectively.
“The need is more diversity. So
when we come to drives like this,
it’s pretty much people in the community
from all races we recruit,”
he said. “The majority of people who
are on the registry are European
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.18 COM | FEB. 19-FEB. 25, 2021
white. They make up 77 percent. So
a white person will find a transplant
much quicker than someone diverse.
It is my job to come out to locations,
colleges, city agencies, everywhere
and try to get people to register.”
Currently, he’s working on a campaign
to find a matching donor for
a 20-year-old patient with aplastic
anemia.
“What happens ultimately is that
he’ll pass away if he can’t find a
matching donor,” Thompson said.
Joining the Be The Match registry
is quite simple. Using a QR code
and her cellphone, Judith Rollhaus
created an account with the network
and answered questions about her
medical history. She then swabbed
her cheeks for a DNA sample with
swabs from a kit provided by Be The
Match.
If you are between the ages of
18 to 44 and want to save a life, you
can join the registry at www.bethematch.
org.
The New York Blood Center urges
donors to make an appointment by
visiting nybloodcenter.org.
From Feb. 1 to Feb. 28, blood donors
also can get a free COVID-19
antibody test at any of NYBC’s 18
fixed donor centers and all mobile
drives in New York and New Jersey.
The center is also asking for convalescent
plasma donations from those
who have recovered from COVID-19
to increase the plasma supply.
/www.bethe-match.org
/www.bethe-match.org
/www.bethe-match.org
/nybloodcenter.org
