Blood Donations --- A Call to Arms -- Excuse the pun

On Wednesday, February 7, Windward School will be holding a community blood drive to help and honor Art. The drive will be from 8:30 am – 2:00 pm. It will be held in the school gym, located at

Here are the details:
· Please book an appointment by emailing Meredith Hamel at the following address mhamel@windwardschool.org before Wednesday….hmm that would mean doing it tonight or tomorrow. (My aplogies for the last minute notice!) Include you phone number.
· If you know that you are O+ or O- and wish to be on Art’s direct donation list (where we call you to come in when we need blood) please DO NOT donate at the school. Please call Karen Sacks, a friend who is coordinating donors, at 310-486-0036
· If you would like to donate platelets (a process that takes an hour plus as opposed to the 30 - 45 minutes for blood donation), also call Karen Sacks.
· If you are not O+ or O-, please donate anyway. Art has had 4 transfusions in the last month. To say we are grateful for those anonymous donors who literally have kept him alive is like saying “He has cancer.” The words do not describe the experience.

Below are the guidelines to donating. And thank you one and all again for you help, prayers and love. As embarrassed as I feel sometimes that we cannot handle this alone (I know, need to seek therapy around that issue), I am rendered speechless to see how quickly and often you have stepped up.

BLOOD DONATION GUIDELINES
To qualify, donors must meet all the following standards:
· Be at least 17 years old (no upper limit), healthy, feel well on day of donation and weigh at least 110 pounds.
· No dental surgery within 72 hours prior to donation.
· Not currently taking antibiotics (except when treating acne).
· Not taking Accutane, Proscar or Propecia within the past 30 days.
· No travel to a malaria zone in the past 12 months.
· No tattoos, ear or body piercing within the past 12 months.
· Cancer free during the last five years and have never received chemotherapy. (Isn’t that ironic. Art will no longer be able to give blood!) OK to donate if treated for localized skin cancer.
· Never used intravenous drugs.
· No history of hepatitis or HIV (AIDS).
· No close contact with someone who has hepatitis.
Cannot donate if you have:
· Spent a combined total of 3 months or more in the United Kingdom between 1980 and1996.
· Spent a combined total of 5 years or more in Europe since 1980 to the present (including time spent in the UK from 1980-1996).
· Resided on a US military base in Europe for 6 months or morefrom 1980-1996. Male donors must not have had sex with another male (even once) since 1977.

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