When it comes to championship contention, Flushing High School gets mentioned for soccer, football and even softball. Now they have another championship team – in blood donation.
On Monday, June 8, 15 regional high schools were presented with championship banners for their 2008-09 achievements in volunteer blood donation at Yankee Stadium, prior to their game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Flushing High School was the only one in Queens and one of only seven public and private high schools in the city to be awarded. Volunteer blood donations from high school students have yielded more than 65,000 pints this year, according to the New York Blood Center.
Since 1996, High Schools in the New York Metro area have participated in The New York Yankees High School Blood Donor Championship. Students from the five boroughs, Long Island, the Hudson valley and New Jersey volunteer for the “contest” and have collected a staggering 500,000 blood donations during that time.
The awards were presented by Howard P. Milstein, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for New York Blood Center, who also gave the Yankees a special award for supporting the donor program.
“As sponsors of [the program] they have both helped us triple annual high school blood donations and produced more than 500,000 priceless ‘gifts of life’ to area hospitals and patients,” Milstein said.
Any company, community organization, place of worship, or individual may host a blood drive. The New York Blood Center also offers special community service scholarships for students who organize community blood drives during the summer.
Blood donors receive free mini-medical exams on site including information about their temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure and hemoglobin level.
Eligible donors include those at least age 16, who weigh at least 110 pounds, are in good health and meet all Food and Drug Administration and New York State Department of Health donor criteria. People over 75 may donate with a doctor’s note; minors need a parental note.
The New York Blood Center is one of the largest non-profit, community-based blood centers in the country. It has been providing blood, transfusion products and services to patients in greater New York since 1964.
To find a blood drive near you, call the Blood Center toll free at 800-933-2566, visit www.nybloodcenter.org or check the pages of The Queens Courier.
