New Jersey Health Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd to address state’s chronic blood shortage
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please contact Dawn Thomas, N.J. Department of Health, (609) 984-7160, dawn.thomas@doh.state.nj.us, or Dorothy Kozlowski, Rutgers Health Services, dk10@echo.rutgers.edu, (848) 932-9055, for more information.
WHAT: All Super Community Blood Drive donors will be entered into a sweepstakes for a pair of tickets to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.
WHO: New Jersey Health Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd and Rutgers Health Services.
WHEN: Monday, Sept. 9, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Commissioner O’Dowd media availability at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Rutgers Student Center, 126 College Avenue, New Brunswick, N.J., Multipurpose Room.
BACKGROUND: The New Jersey Department of Health has partnered with the 2014 New York/New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee for the Super Community Blood Drive, an eight-month partnership to motivate people to donate blood for hospital patients in New York and New Jersey.
“As an alumna, I am proud that Rutgers University is the leader among New Jersey colleges and universities in blood donation,” said Commissioner O’Dowd. “College students make up a large and critically important donor group in the state, and their contribution has a direct impact on the blood supply. The exciting opportunity to win a pair of tickets to Super Bowl XLVIII is intended to encourage more people to become blood donors and raise public awareness of the need for blood donation.”
New Jersey Blood Services is a division of New York Blood Center (NYBC), which is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. For 50 years, NYBC has provided blood, transfusion products and services to hospitals serving more than 20 million people.