A blood drive in honor of a murdered Tabernacle man will help the Red Cross tackle its blood shortage.
The American Red Cross will sponsor a blood drive for Tom Wright, a local businessman and Freemason from Tabernacle who was allegedly murdered by one of his former fired employees in his Tabernacle home last July.
Wright’s alleged killer and fired former employee, David Stead, was recently indicted in February, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The event will take place at the Medford Masonic Lodge at 25 Bank St. in Medford.
“Tom was a mason in the same chapter that we’re in,” said American Red Cross Executive Assistant Jinny Hurley, who is also a member of the Eastern Star of New Jersey’s Medford chapter №287. “We all knew him and we decided to do a blood drive in his honor.”
This is the second year for the blood drive, and, according to Hurley, there are plans to make it an annual event. At the first Tom Wright blood drive, 35 units of blood were collected.
However, not only is the event a reason to support a good cause, it’s also a reason to support the Red Cross, which has had trouble finding enough blood donors recently. In fact, on July 5 the Red Cross issued an emergency call for donations nationally. The Southeastern Pennsylvania-New Jersey region includes Delaware.
The region is 1,200 units of blood behind its target, according to Alana Mauger, the Red Cross’s external communications manager for the Penn-Jersey district. One unit of blood is equal to about a pint.
“It is improving, but we are still in a critical blood shortage,” Mauger said.
Mauger is encouraged by the number of scheduled donations she sees in the local community, just like Hurley’s.
“It’s really great. We’ve actually seen scheduled donations go up by about 30 percent,” she said. “We’re seeing new community-sponsored blood drives.”
The good news is the Red Cross has seen a decrease in demand for blood over the past 10 years thanks to medical and scientific innovation from doctors and the way they perform medical procedures.
“The advances in science have led to a little bit of a lower demand,” she said.
However, blood is still badly needed. Residents can learn more about the Tom Wright blood drive and others by going to redcrossblood.org and typing in their zip code. They can also call 1–800-Red-Cross or download the “Blood Donor by American Red Cross” app at any app store.
