South County Tourism Council Blood Drive brings in record number of donors

March 18, 2011 - PRLog -- The residents of South County showed their support for Lt. Mike Gama and his family by donating 106 pints of blood at the Blood and Marrow drives held at the McGrath Judicial Complex and Village Inn on Thursday, March 3. Both drives were sponsored by the South County Tourism Council.
Lt. Gama is a retired Narragansett Police officer who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. He is currently receiving chemotherapy and blood transfusions and is waiting a marrow match.
This was the sixth blood drive sponsored by SCTC. “We were more than delighted to join with the communities of South County to support the Rhode Island Blood Center’s designated recipient of this year’s blood drive,” said Myrna George, President and CEO of SCTC, noting that the number of donors at this drive exceeded those at all previous drives. “It is wonderful how the communities pulled together to support one of their own.”
A total of 38 blood donors were able to give at the McGrath drive and 68 at the Village Inn. The RI Blood Center also registered 28 potential marrow donors at McGrath and 90 at the Village Inn. Since one pint can save up to three lives, the 106 donations potentially benefited up to 318 people in Rhode Island and beyond.
Donations can still be made on behalf of Lt. Gama as long as they offer the sponsor code #2449. They can donate blood at a Donor Center or Mobile Drive anywhere in Rhode Island as long as they give before the end of March. Also, a person can register for the Be A Match marrow program at any Donor Center or Mobile Drive anywhere in Rhode Island. For more information, visit the RIBC website for more information; www.ribc.org.

All blood donations will make a difference in someone’s life.  A significant amount of the blood collected at RIBC blood drives go towards treating children with leukemia, automobile accident victims and patients needing organ transplants.

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South County Tourism Council is a non-profit organization promoting Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, West Greenwich, and Westerly as a leisure travel destination.