The Haddonfield Area Lions Club and American Legion Post 38 will host their first Red Cross blood drive on Saturday, Oct. 1. as part of the borough’s health and wellness festival.
Lions Club President Bill Brown initiated the idea. He’s been donating blood for more than 70 years, since he was 17.
“ … I just happened to run into a gentleman from Haddonfield American Legion Post 38, and he was discussing that he was thinking of doing a blood drive, so we were thinking of doing it jointly,” said Brown.
“I always thought it was beneficial, because your blood donation serves many people in different ways,” he added, “and it’s just a service opportunity for our Lions Club to be involved in.”
In addition to the blood drive, the Lions Club will host its second annual Octoberfest 5K, also on Oct. 1, beginning at 10 a.m. The certified course will begin at Christ the King School and proceeds will benefit charities that aid those with visual impairments, blindness and other disabilities, the club’s longtime cause. Its website notes that October is Blindness Awareness Month.
Later on that day, the Lions will also offer free vision screenings by doctors from Salus University in Philadelphia at the health and wellness festival, which will take place from noon to 4 p.m. along Kings Court. Free flu shots, COVID boosters and vaccinations, dental and orthodontic evaluations, chiropractic and physical-therapy evaluations, cancer screenings, massages and acupressure will be offered to anyone who happens by.
“We’re going to have people available from the hospital systems to walk people through,” said Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich. “If you have an appointment and they’re asking you to do things like take your blood pressure, check blood sugar level or weight, this is what you do, and this is how you would participate in a telehealth visit to make the most of it.”
The following week, there will be another opportunity for the community to get to know club members, as the Lions Club will participate in the fall festival by bringing seeing- eye dogs.
The blood drive takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church. To participate, register in advance online at https://rcblood.org/3BID6pW. To sign up for the 5K run, visit https://runsignup.com/octoberfest.
