Blood Drive in Honor of 9/11 Held at Wantagh Fire Headquarters

At the headquarters this past Tuesday, Long Island Blood Services, along with radio stations WBAB and WBLI, held a blood drive in honor of 9/11 victims.

There are similar blood drives taking place in firehouses all over Long Island during this week and the overall project was given the title of “Give For Lives Lost.” The title refers to the Long Island Blood Services’ ultimate goal of receiving a pint for every life lost on 9/11.

The blood drive in Wantagh was overseen by Donna Penczak, an account manager at Long Island Blood Services. Despite gloomy weather, she thought the turnout was very impressive.

“We have over 100 pints of blood so far,” Penczak said as the blood drive neared its end. “It’s touching to see all the people come out.”

Penczak also thanked the Wantagh Fire Department, who she described as extremely accommodating. 

“Craig Craft from the fire department has been extremely helpful in organizing this whole event,” she said. “Doreen Fiscina from Long Island Blood Services was the one who began planning all the blood drives going on this week so we owe her as well.”

Lines were sometimes long during the drive but participants waited with patience until it was their turn as the staff did their best to make sure there were limited delays. If donors wanted to they could fill out a postcard for a family who had a loved one die on 9/11. The postcard would be sent to the family, saying that blood was donated in honor of the loved one that had passed away in the attacks.

Jae Cabralda from WBAB, a rock station based in Suffolk County, was proud of his radio station for helping to fund the blood drive.

“Our radio station wanted to do something to commemorate 9/11,” he said. “We wanted to give something back and be proactive so our directors called Donna [Penczak] and Doreen [Fiscina] who helped get this going.”

WBAB also did hourly announcements about the blood drives, urging their listeners to donate and updating them on how many pints have been donated so far. According to Penczak, a number of people who came to the blood drive heard about the drive because they were tuned in to WBAB.

There will be many more blood drives hosted by WBAB, WBLI and the Long Island Blood Services in the days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11 including in Farmingdale, Freeport and Bethpage.