Donor Spotlights...

The Marine Science Education Center is a High School Dropout Prevention Program in Mayport, Florida. Donating Blood became a class project last year for the students to teach them about giving back to their community. They try to keep on a donation schedule depending on school activities, and have become regular donors. We want to say thank you to faculty members Ron, Tim, and Nathan, as well as their students, and we are always happy when they visit the Beaches Donor Center to donate and save lives!

Sheila Bell has donated whole blood, platelets and double platelets more than 60 times with Blood Center of the St. Johns over the past six years. Her own need for blood led her to start donating in 2001, after returning to the United States from Panama. Now, Sheila has a standing appointment every two weeks to donate platelets. If her iron is too low she eagerly comes back to try again, using her comp time from the St. Augustine Beach Police Department where she works. Sheila stresses to others that donating blood and platelets may save someone you love one day and she is thankful it was available when she needed it. We would like to thank Sheila for her support and dedication!

Leonard Alterman, who recently reached his 50 gallon donation level, started donating 30 years ago on a mobile unit when we were the Jacksonville Blood Bank. After reaching the 5 gallon level, Leonard followed a friend’s lead and started donating aphaeresis at our centers. We at The Blood Alliance extend Leonard a sincere thank you for all the lives his generosity has touched in our community!

Virgil Bryan is Clay County’s latest 50 gallon donor. He has been donating with The Blood Alliance since October of 1985. In August of 1992 he first donated platelets, and in 1994 began donating platelets every two weeks. We really appreciate Mr. Bryan’s generous donations of his time and his gifts of life. Mr. Bryan wears a shirt in this picture saying “A blood donor saved my life” – we are very thankful for Mr. Bryan and for all those he has saved in our community.

Courtney Hohmann recently made his 50 gallon donation with The Blood Alliance. About 6 years after he started donating, Courtney was disqualified as a donor and remained so for the next 7 years. Finally, Courtney saw the FGBA telethon on channel 12 and decided to call in and share his story. He asked us to re-evaluate his status as a donor, which we did, and Courtney became a full and active donor with us again. That was many years ago, and we are thankful to Courtney for his persistence to our cause and to saving lives, which enabled him to reach this great 50 gallon milestone.

Congratulations to David Crews who made his 70 Gallon donation on December 5th. He donates regularly every other Tuesday at our Central Donor Center and our staff is always glad to see him! We wish to thank David for being such a dedicated donor, as he always donates 23-24 times a year.

Vicki Bessent recently made her 50 gallon donation with The Blood Alliance. She first started donating in 1968 at the weight of 112 pounds, just over our minimum weight of 110. Vicki made her first donation simply because she was asked. No family member was sick, and she did not need blood at the time; she simply said yes when asked. We at The Blood Alliance are very glad she did, because she recently became the 3rd female donor to reach the illustrious platform of 50 gallons. We thank Vicki for all her years of loyal support and many donations!

Last, but not least, we recognize the members of the FCCJ Stars basketball team. Losing members were required by their coach to come in and donate, but they are certainly the true winners in our eyes! Thanks to the FCCJ stars, and we hope to see you again soon!