{"id":145264,"date":"2026-02-25T21:25:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/145264\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T21:25:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:25:37","slug":"the-bronxs-only-blood-donation-center-opens-in-throggs-neck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/145264\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bronx\u2019s only blood donation center opens in Throggs Neck"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of advocacy from community members and elected officials, the borough\u2019s only blood donation center opened in Throggs Neck on Feb. 25.\n<\/p>\n

The Bronx location of New York Blood Center (NYBC), located in the Throggs Neck Shopping Center at 815 Hutchinson River Parkway, has plenty of parking and a brand-new facility that can serve 13 donors at a time, with each donation saving up to three lives.<\/p>\n

While a diverse blood supply is always necessary, the new center, which joins 20 other NYBC locations in the tri-state area, arrives at a time of particular need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Bronx, blood donations have declined by nearly 40% in recent years, and this year\u2019s snow, cold weather and flu season have led to thousands of canceled blood drives and individual donations, according to NYBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just a New York issue. Last month, the American Red Cross issued<\/a> a \u201csevere blood shortage\u201d warning, noting that the national supply fell by 35% over the past month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ceremony to commemorate the new Bronx blood center included remarks from NYBC staff, Council Member Shirley Aldebol, and people who knew firsthand the importance of maintaining a healthy blood supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Borough President Vanessa Gibson said she once saw a doctor after feeling what she thought was normal fatigue, only to find out that her hemoglobin level was 4.6 \u2014 an alarmingly low level, given that the minimum to donate is 12.5. \u201cThe doctor said, \u2018How are you walking?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gibson said she spent that weekend in the hospital, where it took \u201cseveral\u201d blood donations to bring her hemoglobin back up. Between that experience and her mother\u2019s diagnosis of renal failure, \u201cI know what it means to have a blood center right in your community,\u2019 Gibson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the ribbon-cutting, Gibson was also awarded the Dr. Charles Drew Lifesaver Award, named for \u201cthe father of modern blood banking\u201d who was the first African American to earn a Doctor of Medical Science from Columbia University.<\/p>\n

\"\"Borough President Vanessa Gibson received the Dr. Charles Drew Lifesaver Award, along with Council Member Shirley Aldebol and Community Board 11 member Debra Kawalick. Photo by Emily Swanson<\/p>\n

Harlan Sexton, a City Island resident, recounted the terrifying story of how blood donations saved her daughter\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2010, when her daughter Emily was 17, a drunk driver drove onto the sidewalk and pinned her to a wall as she stood at a bus stop. At the hospital, she required \u201ca river\u201d of donated blood, Sexton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Emily spent three months in the hospital, where she received repeated infusions and eventually recovered from her injuries. Today, she is married and works as a nurse, giving back to the community that brought her back from the brink of death.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blood donors\u2019 impact reaches further than they know, Sexton said. \u201cYou save the lives of people unknown to you. You save lives. You change timelines.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Inside the New York Blood Center Bronx location at 815 Hutchinson River Parkway. Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n

Debra Kawalick, a member of Community Board 11, has donated blood and platelets hundreds of times and received every kind of special swag from the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kawalick told the Bronx Times that after learning years ago that she had O-negative blood \u2014 the universal donor \u2014 her motivation to give kicked into high gear. But she had no choice but to travel to 67th Street in Manhattan, which was inconvenient and stressful, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, instead of driving to Elmsford for donations, Kawalick said she is \u201cecstatic\u201d about the new Bronx location that she and others spent nearly 10 years advocating for. She even created a t-shirt for the occasion with a photo of the new center, adding that she uses t-shirts to spark conversation and recruit more potential donors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta put that good karma out, especially knowing I\u2019m a universal donor. O-negative can save everybody in this room,\u201d she said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Bronx center hours are as follows:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Monday 8:00 a.m. \u2013 3:00 p.m.\n<\/p>\n

Tuesday 12:45 p.m. \u2013 7:45 p.m.\n<\/p>\n

Friday 8:00 a.m. \u2013 3:00 p.m.\n<\/p>\n

Saturday 8:00 a.m. \u2013 3:00 p.m.\n<\/p>\n

Sunday 8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.\n<\/p>\n

Learn more information and schedule a donation appointment at this link: https:\/\/donate.nybc.org\/donor\/schedules\/center\/121<\/a><\/p>\n

Reach Emily Swanson at\u00a0eswanson@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0(646) 717-0015<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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