ALBANY, N.Y. – The American Red Cross has launched a major capital campaign to fund a series of new blood transportation vehicles and a brand new, state-of-the-art bloodmobile for the Eastern New York Region.
The “Delivering Hope” campaign was announced by Red Cross board chair Sujata Chaudhry, founder & CEO of Tangible Development, at the 21st Annual Fire + Ice Gala.
“Have you ever really thought about how the blood from a selfless donor’s arm travels to patients in need at our local hospitals,” Chaudhry asked the crowd of approximately 600 guests gathered at the Albany Capital Center.
“This journey – from blood donor to recipient – is complex and costly. The Red Cross relies on a fleet of vehicles to collect and deliver thousands of units of blood in our community each year, and patients rely on Red Cross blood to be there when they need it. Tonight, we’re launching a $564,000 capital campaign to ensure that our local Red Cross has reliable vehicles on the streets in our region, delivering hope to patients in need,” Chaudhry added.
Guests of the Fire + Ice Gala also heard from Honorary Co-Chairs Craig D. Apple, Sr., Sheriff of Albany County, and David R. Bauer, Regional Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., who spoke about their personal experiences with the Red Cross, and the important work they see the organization carry out on a daily basis.
Finally, Dominick Purnomo, wine director of Yono’s and dp An American Brasserie, shared the deeply moving story of his six-year-old daughter’s recovery from Kawasaki disease, aided by treatment with a blood product prepared from the serum of anywhere from 1,000 to 15,000 blood donors.
On behalf of the entire Purnomo family, Dominick made the first donation to the Delivering Hope campaign in honor of his daughter, Gemma. Inspired by his story, as well as a generous matching gift incentive of $25,000 from Neil and Jane Golub, guests at the Fire + Ice Gala pledged more than $33,000 to help the Red Cross blood program continue to deliver hope.
Thanks to everyone involved with the launch of this campaign, the Red Cross has already raised enough to fund the purchase of two new vehicles to help transport lifesaving blood and blood products to hospitals across the region.
“We were blown away by the success of this year’s Fire + Ice Gala, and by the outpouring of support for our Delivering Hope campaign,” Gary Striar, Regional CEO for the American Red Cross said.
“Every year, tens of thousands of patients benefit from the generosity of those who support our blood program, both as blood donors and financial donors. We are extremely grateful to all of them, and we hope that others will see the importance of this campaign and help us raise the funds we need to continue delivering hope,” Striar added.
Through the Delivering Hope campaign, the Red Cross aims to fund a total of six new blood transportation vehicles, as well as a brand new, state-of-the-art bloodmobile which will support hundreds of local blood drives each year.
To contribute to the Delivering Hope campaign, one can mail donations to the American Red Cross, 33 Everett Road, Albany, N.Y. 12205 or call (518) 694-5147.