MIDDLETOWN, Del. – Blood Bank of Delmarva (BBD) and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. welcomed 24 donors to the fourth annual Dr. Charles R. Drew Memorial Blood Drive held Saturday, August 9.
In total, the drive collected 24 red cell donations, with the potential to impact more than 70 patients in our local hospitals. The Gamma Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi launched this annual drive four years ago in response to a national call from the fraternity to honor of Dr. Charles R. Drew, the pioneering African-American surgeon and researcher known as the “Father of the Blood Bank.”
Dr. Drew, who passed away in 1950, is credited with inventing mobile blood donation units and helped orchestrate the “Blood for Britain” project during World War II, which laid the groundwork for America’s first large-scale blood banking system.
The drive is coordinated each year by William Garrett, a member of Omega Psi Phi and the first recipient of BBD’s Dr. Charles Drew Lifesaver Award. This year, he worked with BBD to move the blood drive to the Middletown Donor Center, a convenient location for many of the local Omega Psi Phi Fraternity brothers. True to tradition, Garrett, who has O-positive blood, was among the day’s donors.
In recent years, some donors from this event have been identified as matches for local sickle cell patients, according to Executive Director, Blood Manufacturing Operations (NYBC & BBD) Kristin Frederick. For that reason, the annual drive also serves as a meaningful lead-in to Sickle Cell Awareness Month each September.
Interested in hosting a blood drive with your community organization? Learn more and fill out our host form here: Host a Blood Drive – Blood Bank of Delmarva (BBD).
