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Penn-Jersey Region Celebrates Sickle Cell Partners
Thursday, October 14, 2004 — PHILADELPHIA--On September 21, the Penn-Jersey Region hosted the fourth annual tribute to blood donors, blood drive sponsors, and program partners who support the region’s Cooperative Sickle Cell Donor Program.
More than 125 guests attended this year’s breakfast, held each September in honor of National Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Guest speakers included Monique Braxton of NBC10 News; Dr. Kim Smith-Whitley of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; State Rep. Dwight Evans, 203rd District of Philadelphia County; and Karen Darius of the Sickle Cell Disease Assoc., Delaware Valley Chapter.
To provide the best transfusion support for children with sickle cell disease, the Penn-Jersey Region and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia established the Cooperative Sickle Cell Donor Program in 1997. St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association have joined this innovative effort to help expand the program to help more patients.
Willingboro High School students and faculty were named Outstanding Pennsylvania high school for their efforts to support sickle cell patients in the area. |
During the awards presentation, several participants were recognized for their outstanding efforts in promoting blood donation and community awareness of sickle cell disease including Lincoln University, Christian Stronghold Baptist Church, Strawberry Mansion High School, Willingboro High School, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity – Philadelphia Chapter, and Keystone Mercy Health Plan. After the awards, attendees viewed “The Power Is In You,” a video produced by the Southern Blood Services Region that offers a compelling story of the need for more African-American blood donors.
Through the Cooperative Sickle Cell Donor Program, African American donors can voluntarily designate their blood donation for a child with sickle cell disease by requesting that a special blue tag be attached to the unit of blood each time they donate. These blue tags, which are available at every Penn-Jersey Region blood drive and donor center, alert the American Red Cross to reserve the unit for a patient with sickle cell disease at one of the two partnering children’s hospitals. Since the program began, thousands of African American blood donors have chosen the blue tag and continue to make a positive difference in the lives of sickle cell patients who rely on the precious gift of donated blood.
To learn more about the Penn-Jersey Blood Services Region Cooperative Sickle Cell Donor Program, please visit us on the web.
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