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Local residents have blood tested for bone marrow donation

Boy Scouts host drive at church

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City was buzzing with activity Wednesday afternoon as Boy Scout Troop 175 and the American Red Cross held a blood drive and bone marrow test and registration drive.

The event was the Eagle Scout project for Peachtree City resident Brett Bartels, 16, who made a lot of phone calls to coordinate the event with the American Red Cross and secure funding for the bone marrow testing.

Bartels, a rising junior at Our Lady of Mercy High School, attends church at Holy Trinity. He and 14 of his colleagues from Troop 175, which is based out of Peachtree City United Methodist Church, set up a large room with the donation area, the registration area and the always important refreshment area filled with juice, donuts, cookies and other refreshments.

Ninety-five people had registered to make a blood donation and, according to Bartels, many of them had also registered to have the bone marrow test done as well. Bartels was also impressed by the number of walk-ins the event had. Though he is currently too young to give blood himself, Bartels plans on giving blood in several months when he turns 17.

98 units of blood were collected and 84 bone marrow donors were placed on the national bone marrow registry free of charge, thanks largely to a donation by Hendrick Marrow Program. The 98 units of blood was a record for blood drives held at the church.

Anyone interested in donating blood to contact the Red Cross to register for a nearby blood drive by calling 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.