The Alternative Press

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ - Giving blood is one of the most important things a person can do because every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood and more than 44,000 blood donations are required every day. On Wednesday afternoon from 12 to 6 p.m., the New Providence Memorial Library held its annual blood drive.

Donor specialists from the New York Blood Center took people’s blood and Chatham High School senior Jane Donnabella hosted the event. At the age of 16, she tried giving blood, but her iron was low and she couldn’t.

Since then, she has been contributing every two to three months and began receiving emails from the organization about a scholarship opportunity. She volunteered to hold a drive and for the past few months she has been handing out flyers and pamphlets to friends, family members, classmates and teachers.

While many of her friends made excuses about not having enough iron or being afraid to donate, Donnabella said several teachers were likely to stop by after school. The amount of money given towards her scholarship is determined by the amount of people who gave blood.

“It’s scary the first time you do it,” she said. “You’re really scared and after a while you anticipate what’s going to happen and you’re fine.”

Joseph Laccitelli, who has been a donor specialist with New York Blood Center for 11 years, said giving blood is an important part of society. He said no one knows when blood will come into play, but it can save lives.

New Providence resident Patty Seip said giving blood is the right thing to do. Seip and her husband travel often, so she said unfortunately she can’t always donate blood because of diseases in certain countries.

“It’s not frequent that I can give, but I try to give a couple times a year,” Seip said.

Pat Bisogno donates every 56 days. 

“I hate the needles,” she said. “I still cringe, but I feel like it’s my duty to do.”