Blood Donor Council begins the new year with a new name

The Ohio Jewish Chronicle, February 10, 2005/1 Adar 5765, page 1

By Andrew Blank

With the new year comes a new name for a storied local organization. Since 1949, the Jewish Community Blood Donor Council has helped local Jewish institutions organize blood drives to address the ongoing critical shortage in the blood supply. According to committee head Brenda Luper, adopting the new name, To Life Columbus! (TLC), reflects a renewed effort to fulfill their mission.

“We’re proud of our history and excited about our future,” said Luper. “It’s essential to let everyone know how easy and important blood donation is.”

The new name was announced during a Kick Off Celebration on January 30 at the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Community Center. Fifty people attended the celebration that recognized both volunteers and high volume donors. It was the first time in memory that donors, volunteers and committee members came together to honor their collective work.

The new name comes at a pivotal time, as many long-time donors have stopped donating because of health reasons or have retired out of state. The group believes that getting new donors is a matter of awareness and time. Luper says, “We are making donation as easy as possible by expanding the number of Jewish community drives and letting people know about them. It just takes an hour to save as many as three lives.”

Blood drives at the JCC now occur four times a year, whereas several new locations include the Columbus Jewish Day School, Columbus Torah Academy and Tifereth Israel. In addition, Beth Tikvah and Temple Israel are continuing their semi-annual drives. The increased number of drives is not only more convenient, but encourages people to give more consistently.

The past two years has seen a revitalization of TLC as Luper and past committee head Kenny Steinman recruited new members and worked closely with the Red Cross on organization and promotion. “The Red Cross originally approached each drive independently,” says Steinman. “Now we coordinate marketing and volunteering for all the blood drives, so if you can’t donate at Tifereth in February you can try the JCC in March.”

A new website, www.tolifecolumbus.org, provides an updated listing of all the blood drives at local Jewish institutions as well as information on blood donation and donor eligibility. There is a stronger move towards the Internet for managing volunteers and donors alike. Both the Red Cross and TLC plan on coordinating blood drives through an online extranet sometime this year.

The organization was started by the late Sylvia Schecter to help alleviate blood shortages in Central Ohio and around the country. Through Schecter’s vision and energy, the committee established itself as an important player in organizing local blood drives. During these early years, Richard Grundstein, Fred Yenkin, and Marjorie Gross provided valuable leadership to extend the committee’s work to include area synagogues and other Jewish organizations.

Later Elliott Luckoff, Sondra Osipow, Christi Kaufman, and Susan Stein expanded further, recruiting over 100 volunteers, increasing the number of blood drives to yield 700-800 units of blood annually, and winning awards from the American Red Cross in the process. They also helped secure the organization’s future financially.

In 1994, retired Columbus businessman and philanthropist Richard Lieberman established the Richard Lieberman Perpetual Life Endowment at the Columbus Jewish Foundation to cover the operating expenses in perpetuity. With the additional support of several annual donors, TLC’s focus is on the lifesaving work of collecting blood.

Today the tradition continues with additional committee members Andrew Blank, Marci Delson, Bob Sanford, and Cydney Topaz. There is also a healthy mix of younger and older volunteers. Some have been helping out at blood drives since World War II, including several members of the Jewish War Veterans, Capitol Post #122. Others are getting involved while in high school.

With the growing number of drives, To Life Columbus! is also seeking new volunteers and donors. If you would like to volunteer or donate blood, you can contact Brenda Luper, 614-207-0936 or info@tolifecolumbus.org.

Andrew Blank is a volunteer for To Life Columbus!

ABOUT THE COVER

The 2005 To Life Columbus Kick-Off Celebration honored both volunteers and high volume donors. Gene McDonald and his son Joshua (left photo) joined the celebration. Joshua was saved by a major blood transfusion given when he was first born. Cantor Baruch Shifman (right photo) has donated more than 16 gallons over the years. He and other high volume donors were honored at the Kick-Off Celebration.

Photos courtesy Randy Rosen, of Photo Images.

Bob Sanford, Andrew Blank, Brenda Luper, Marci Delson (front row, l. to r.), Red Cross representative Jo Youngs, Kenny Steinman and Red Cross representative Sandy Love Davis (back row, l. to r.), gathered at the recent event.

Last updated on:    01/08/2007