The Gift of Life, A Gift of Remembrance in Katonah

Bobbi Stanton said she’s given blood anytime she sees a station set up ever since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“I just felt that it was an obligation, even if the blood isn’t needed” Stanton said Tuesday as she readied herself to give blood inside the Katonah Fire Department. “I just want to do everything I can to remember their sacrifice.”

The blood drive, which was held by the New York Blood Center of the Hudson Valley, is one of countless blood drives being held in the area this summer when supplies are typically at their lowest levels."

It may seem like overkill, but it that isn’t the case, according to Dick Lura, a phlebotomist technician with the Blood Center. “The summer is our lowest point,” Lura said. “Schools and colleges close, families leave on vacation and many of the people who normally donate are away.” The New York Blood Center requires more than 2,000 volunteer blood donations each day to meet the transfusion needs of patients in our 200 partner hospitals," he said.

Lura said the process usually only takes about 40 minutes and Stanton said it was not a painful one. "The one thing that gets me is the finger prick," said Stanton.

For more information on blood drives in the area, go here.

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