(Eleuthera, Bahamas) The Health Association of Central Eleuthera (HACE) held its regular bi-annual blood drive on Thursday, March 3rd and Friday, March 4th, 2016 at the Levy Medical Clinic in Governors Harbour. HACE Chairman, Mr. Christopher Gosling, reported that the organization had tremendous support from the public and that most of their long standing donors were able to donate blood.
The total number of units (pints) reported being collected was 66, which were said to have been transported to the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) blood bank on both the Thursday and Friday evenings for use in the Princess Margaret Hospital. HACE organizers also reported that as usual, there was a tremendous turnout of students from the Central Eleuthera High School (CEHS) and a small but loyal group from the Preston H. Albury High School (PHAHS).
“This event has become established after 15 years and depends upon substantial donations to justify the cost of organizing the event. To this end as Chairman of HACE I extend a big thank you to our regular donors for their loyalty over the years and especially the courage of the young Bahamian students who often overcome their fear of needles to save a life. What is especially pleasing to me after all these years is that many of our students continue to donate blood when they leave the island for COB and other institutions. Once again I urge everybody to turn out again in November for the next blood drive and to keep in mind that the blood bank gets over 10,000 requests for blood every year and receives less than 4,000 donations,” said Mr. Gosling.
A very special thank you was also expressed to Mr. Addison Cooper, owner of Unique Village for donating free accommodation to the blood bank personnel while on Eleuthera. They included; Mr. Everette Miller, Supervisor of the PMH Blood Bank; and Phlebotomists – Latoya Deveaux and Glenville Roberts.
Mr. Basil Christie, founder of ‘Friends of the Blood Bank’, who has been personally donating blood since 1967, was also on island during the blood drive to lend his organization’s support to the local event. He expressed that a goal of the ‘Friends of the Blood Bank’, and his dream was that every eligible person within our local communities would volunteer to donate at least two pints a year.
