To the Editor:
I wanted to write and publicly thank everyone who helped with my blood drive on Aug. 1. So many people helped, from St. Andrew's Catholic Church who hosted us, Joyce Krolicki from Paul VI and Brenda Tingen from Inova who supported and guided us, my friends Alex and Nick Aguilera and George Litman, and my brother Brent who ran the blood drive, everyone who helped publicize my event and recruit donors, and of course everyone who donated blood. We were successful because of your efforts. We were given 48 appointments and Inova's goal for us was to fill 36 of them. We were able to fill all of our appointments and we had several "drop ins" and as a result, Inova collected 47 units of blood. Each unit of blood can save up to three lives, so together, we may have helped give a chance to 141 people.
Blood cannot be manufactured and can only come from donors. It truly is a matter of life and death and we are so grateful for your participation. Unfortunately we don't have contact information for several people who dropped in, so we hope they see this. Everyone who donated on Aug. 1 is eligible to donate again on Sept. 26, and we hope you will. We hope to hold another drive in the late fall. If you would like to be contacted when we have a date, please feel free to email us at PantherPints@gmail.com
Mitch Kiefer
Clifton