July 16th Blood Drive Scheduled to Honor Local Nutley Resident
Please Schedule Your Next Life-Giving Donation NOW!

NUTLEY – Commissioner John V. Kelly and the Nutley Department of Public Affairs are pleased to partner with Vitalant Blood Services of New Jersey to conduct a Nutley Community Blood Drive in honor of resident Anne Rotonda, on Thursday, July 16, 2020.

The drive will be held at the Nutley Parks and Rec Building - 44 Park Avenue, Room 300 from 1:30pm – 6:00pm, BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. No walk ins will be accepted. All safety precautions will be put in place to ensure the health and well-being of all donors and technicians.  Please do not donate if you are sick or may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. All donors must wear a mask or cloth face covering. As always, donors must be between the ages of 16 and 76, weigh over 110lbs and be in general good health.

COVID-19 Antibody testing available via donation:
*Do not donate if you are sick.
*This antibody test does not test for the presence of COVID-19
*All successful donations will be tested for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19
*Donors can view results in your online donor account 2 weeks after you donate.

In 2013 Anne was diagnosed with AML– Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  At that time, the Board of Commissioners held the first blood drive in Anne’s honor.  In 2017 she was re-diagnosed with the same disease and in September of 2017 received a bone marrow transplant. Anne continues her battle with this disease, but has remained optimistic and hopeful, always flashing that million dollar smile and offering words of encouragement to all that cross her path.

Anne had been Director of Nutley SYA, Special Young Adults Organization for 38+ years.  She has dedicated her entire life to the well-being of countless special young adults who would otherwise have nowhere to turn.  She not only provided them with somewhere to go, and daily activities, but she showered them in the love and support they deserve.  She is completely and unconditionally loved by every young adult that came though her door as well as by everyone that has had the undeniable privilege of meeting or working with her.

New Jersey on a whole is experiencing critically low donation numbers, especially during the COVID_19 pandemic.  There is an urgent need for Type O Negative, O Positive & B Negative Blood Types, but all types are welcome and needed!

Find answers at Vitalant.org to commonly asked questions about COVID-19 and the virus that causes it (novel coronavirus, now called SARS-CoV-2) in relation to blood donation and what Vitalant is doing to keep donors, blood drive coordinators, volunteers, staff and patients safe. If you have a question not covered here, please visit our donor eligibility page, call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825) or email us at getinvolved@vitalant.org.  For any additional information, please call the Department of Public Affairs at 973-284-4976.  If you would like to schedule an appointment please click on the following link: https://donor.cbsblood.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/52550 or call (877) 258-4825.