Local Brownies Team with American Red Cross for Blood Drive

About 35 people donated blood over a four-hour period Sunday as Fort Lee Brownie Troop 1017 teamed up with the American Red Cross at the Fort Lee Recreation Center for a blood drive.

Earlier in January the troop’s co-leaders, Paige Soltano and Rachel Schulman, invited Rosana Tabakci of the American Red Cross’s blood services division for the Penn-Jersey region to the troop’s meeting at to talk about the importance of donating blood.

“They have a hard time to understand about blood,” Tabakci told Patch at the time. “But on the day of the drive, they understand because they see it, and it’s fun. And they feel good because they’re doing something they know is good.”

She told the Brownies that by participating in the blood drive, they were helping save lives.

“And isn’t it a [good] way to help save someone else’s life with something you have?” she said. “It doesn’t cost anything to you, and it would really make a difference in a patient’s life. You think it’s scary [because of the needle], but it’s not. I donate blood every three months. And I feel very proud that my blood is helping save someone else’s life.”

The Brownies were tasked with signing up people for the drive, getting the word out by hanging and creating posters and helping out on the day of the blood drive; their goal was to collect 30 pints of blood.

“Giving food to a food pantry is helping people who don’t have enough food for themselves,” Soltano told the Brownies at the meeting in January. “When you give blood, you’re donating to people who need blood. So think of it as a food pantry but specifically for blood if there’s a shortage … that’s how I want you to think about it; it’s part of giving back to your community.”

For reaching their goal, the Brownies get a pin and a certificate.

For more information on donating blood through the American Red Cross, visit their website, enter your zip code. A list of donating opportunities in the area will come up.