CBN hosting blood drive Thursday

The local group Citizens for a Better Norwood (CBN) is hosting a blood drive on Thursday, Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Norwood VFW at 193 Dean St.

Organizers Cheryl Nardelli and Greg Orphanos said the drive was to help those in need and to help commemorate September 11th.

“It was a need, something nice to do, and something we thought would help the community kind of rally around,” Orphanos said. “We obviously wanted to connect it to memorializing Sept. 11 a little bit and help people out.”

Nardelli said they thought to remember the lives lost, they would help provide life-saving supplies.

“So years ago, I actually worked for the American Red Cross and I understand the importance of donating blood. I understand how hard it is to get people to donate blood, but more importantly, the need is so great right now,” she said. “CBN tries to do a different activity every month – whether it’s community service or a donation – we try to do something to be active in the community every month. So for September, here we are thinking what can we do in September? And the first thing that comes to mind is Sept. 11. That was first and foremost in my mind. Everyone who lost their lives in that tragedy – what better way to give back than to hold a blood drive in their honor and hopefully save some lives?”

Nardelli added organizing the drive isn’t exactly a walk in the park.

“It is a lot of work to organize, but it is also very fulfilling at the same time because you’re saving lives,” she said. “How rewarding is that!”

Readers may have noticed a lot of blood drives from the American Red Cross in The Record lately. Nardelli said that’s because the need for blood is neverending.

“There is always a great need,” she said. “There are no good days where they’re at capacity. Every day, every hospital is in need of blood. In my mind, you can never have enough blood on hand for any hospital.”

Nardelli said there are always more uses blood can be put to, which is why the American Red Cross is always looking for donations.

“It’s more than juts having it for emergencies, because it’s used for cancer patients, childbirth complications, trauma, surgeries, transplants, sickle cell disease. There are just so many uses for blood, other than what we would think of as the obvious use: transfusions,” she said. “There are so many different reasons as to why blood is needed.”

Nardelli said she practices what she preaches.

“I’ve been donating for years, I think this time around will be my 45th donation,” she said.

Orphanos said he would always give blood when he was younger.

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“Many times,” he said. “At a much younger age, I was a regular donor at the Children’s Hospital for about two years. On a personal note, my father, when he got older, ended up having bleeding problems to the point where he was in Norwood Hospital every week getting blood, otherwise he wouldn’t have made it. So it’s kind of a personal thing for me.”

The drive will also allow patrons to donate a Power Red Donation, which allows donors to give about two units of blood. The process concentrates the blood cells and returns the platelets and plasma to the donor.

“It takes a little longer, about 90 minutes or so, but it’s a concentrated form of the blood cells,” she said. “It’s a big ask. We have five appointments for Thursday, and we have four already booked for our drive.”

Orphanos said he wanted to make sure the VFW in Norwood gets some credit.

“They’ve been so great about this and we really want to give them a shoutout,” he said.

If you missed Thursday’s drive, go to https://gvimes.link/blddrvsnwd to find a list of upcoming drives in and around Norwood.