PASADENA – In celebration of Valentine’s Day, on Feb. 14, the Gaidz Youth Organization (GYO), Armenian Council of America (ACA), in cooperation with the Red Cross, hosted a blood drive at the AEBU center in Pasadena.
It is widely known that blood drives save hundreds of thousands of lives across many communities throughout the nation. GYO and ACA partnered up with the Red Cross, in an effort to help underserved communities in Southern California, which have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.
“There is currently a shortage of blood within the Los Angeles County area, and every drop counts,” said ACA Board Member Harry Unell. “Our hospitals and medical personnel are already stretched thin, and we feel it is our duty to help in any way we can, especially now, during the pandemic with all the unrest we are experiencing. This event was a great opportunity for us to come together to demonstrate the love we feel for our community and mankind,” added Unell.
“Since Valentine’s Day is the holiday of love, we thought that it would be a great idea to show our love for our community by hosting a blood drive,” said GYO Co-chair Alison Ghafari. “We are facing a serious crisis amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and blood donations are in great demand. It is our responsibility to serve the community in any way possible and so we decided that this was the best way to spend Valentine’s day and express our love and compassion towards humanity,” she added.
Ghafari and Unell both stated that the organizations are committed to raising more awareness about the importance of donating blood. They added that there will be more blood drives at the AEBU center in the future.
“Donating blood is a selfless act and rewarding experience for individuals interested in saving lives. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Red Cross for helping ACA and GYO put together this successful event, and most importantly, the participants, who spent their Valentine’s Day graciously donating blood to save the life of a person in need,” Unell added.
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