Submitted by Ilyse Levine-Kanji
Westborough – Pauline Sciarappa of Westborough knows the pricelessness of donating blood. As blood banks openly worry about a drop off in donations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Scirappa is stepping up to help.
Sciarappa’s daughter, Corinne, received over 200 units of donated blood throughout her more than four-year battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.
Though Corinne passed away in June 2019 at the age of 18, Sciarappa has steadfastly continued her work to help those in need and to honor Corinne’s life by organizing mobile donation events through the Boston Children’s Hospital Blood Donor Center and Westborough’s Tatnuck Booksellers.
The Westborough community has responded enthusiastically by continuing to roll up its sleeves to give blood.
For Cyndi MacKinlay, who handles mobile donation operations across the region as Boston Children’s “Bloodmobile Coordinator,” this kind of dedication from Sciarappa and her community is welcome and appreciated.
“The pandemic has changed and stopped so many things in our lives,” MacKinlay said, recently. “What hasn’t changed is the constant need for blood.”
She elaborated, saying “Collecting enough whole blood to meet our patients’ needs has been made exceedingly more difficult by the pandemic. We are enormously grateful to families, like the Sciarappas, who not only understand the importance of donating blood, but also hold blood drives in their communities.”
The next upcoming drive runs on April 20 and May 1 outside Tatnuck Booksellers.
To make a blood donation appointment, visit www.halfpints.
Photos/submitted
