Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
9/11 memorial blood donor drive surpasses goal
Molinaro thanks 668 Islanders who more than doubled goal of 274 pints
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today thanked the 668 Staten Islanders who gave “the gift of life” at his 10th annual September 11th Blood Donor Drive, far exceeding the goal of 274 pints – one for each Staten Island victim of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
“On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, Staten Islanders made an extra-special effort to honor the memory of our borough’s victims and more than doubled our goal of 274 pints,” said Molinaro. “With 668 donors, that means more than one out of every 1,000 Staten Islanders gave ‘the gift of life,’ just like they have each year since I started this blood drive in memory of our lost loved ones.”
For the 10th year in a row, Molinaro held a week-long blood drive across the Borough to honor the memory of Staten Islanders killed on 9/11. The goal was to collect 274 pints – one for each victim, including Stephen Knapp, who was killed in the 1993 bombing of the Twin Towers.
“This year we far exceeded our goal of 274 pints and collected 105 pints more than last year’s total of 563,” said Molinaro. “I’m confident that next year we can make it to 700.
“These 668 pints will go a long way to helping our hospitals that have been stretched thin over the summer, a traditionally slow time for blood donations,” Molinaro added. “As I’ve said before, the simple process of giving blood can save the life of a relative, a friend or a neighbor.”
Brooklyn/Staten Island Blood Services operates a donation site in the Pergament Mall at 2791 Richmond Avenue (above Verizon Wireless) in New Springville. It is open Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. To make an appointment to donate blood, call 1-800-933-2566, or go to www.nybloodcenter.org.
September 13, 2012