Blood Drive At The Beth Gavriel Community Center

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On Sunday, January 21st, 2018, Beth Gavriel had its first ever blood drive sponsored by Maimonides Blood Donation Center, Chazaq, and the Alliance of Bukharian Americans. The blood drive was the first of a series of health awareness events in the community to be implemented to educate community members about modern-day health topics relevant to the Bukharian culture and lifestyle. Some of these topics include nutrition, diabetes, and substance abuse.

People from various parts of Queens, Brooklyn, and Nassau County came to donate between the hours of 10 AM and 5 PM. Donors consisted of both men and women, ranging from ages 16-77. In total, 42 units of blood were collected, with 7 donors deferred due to travel, health conditions, etc. Each unit of blood can potentially be used for transfusions for up to 3 separate individuals in need, as the 3 transfusable components of blood are red blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Some of the transfusion candidates can include women with complications in pregnancy, trauma patients who suffered blood loss, and patients with sickle cell anemia and other blood disorders.

The number of units collected was staggering for a first blood drive, especially considering that many families were away on vacation for the yeshiva winter break. The diversity and quantity of donors proved that our community is able to influence not only its own members, but also residents of our surrounding neighborhoods in Greater New York. “It was really nice to see people from outside our community come to support the cause,” said Simcha Musheyev, founder of ABA. “This is exactly what we hope to achieve as a community: to make an impact on everyone
around us.”

Many of our very own community leaders donated blood, such as David Koptiev, board member of Beth Gavriel, Chazaq, and co-chair of ABA. “Donating blood is the biggest act of chesed we can do,” David explained. “I donated because I know several people who are in need of transfusions and this was the best way I could help them…Hopefully next time we can have an even stronger turnout. I wanted to thank Jonathan Koptyev, ABA, Chazaq, and Beth Gavriel for hosting.” Other community leaders who donated were Yaniv Meirov, operations manager of Chazaq, Yaakov Serle, publisher of Queens Jewish Link, and Simcha Musheyev.

We look forward to our next blood drive with Maimonides in the near future and hope to further increase the number of units of blood we can donate – together, as a community.