Annual Blood And Toy Drive Being Held This Weekend

FLORAL PARK, NY — The New York Blood Center (NYBC) will be hosting a blood drive on Dec. 17 in partnership with the Floral Park Knights of Columbus Council 2345 and The Hance Family Foundation.

This is the 20th annual “pre-Christmas” blood and toy drive, which will honor the lives of Emma, Alyson and Katie Hance, three sisters from Floral Park who died in a car accident. Following the accident, the Hance family created the Hance Family Foundation, an organization that provides self-esteem programs with a mission of empowering women and girls beyond education.

The blood drive will be held at the Our Lady of Victory School, located at 2 Bellmore St. in Floral Park from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. To make an appointment, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit this link. Those donating blood are also asked to bring unwrapped toys for children in need.

In the past 19 years, this blood drive has collected nearly 3,600 blood donations. As the chronic blood shortage continues, NYBC encourages all who are eligible in the community to donate blood and save a life. Hospitals and patients rely upon a steady flow of donors to receive life-saving blood donations. One blood donation has the ability to save up to three lives.

People are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.