On Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Farmingdale Council of PTAs sponsored their 5th Annual Blood Drive and once again, thanks to your outstanding generosity, it was a tremendous success. A grand total of 173 pints of blood were collected - our highest collection to date! Just prior to our blood drive, we were notified by the Long Island Blood Services of a critical blood shortage, especially for blood type O. We made up supplementary flyers to go home to our parents in addition to all the phone calls made and we contacted our Neighborhood News Network, Channel 1, as well as the Farmingdale Observer. They both jumped on the bandwagon by featuring this emergency and highlighting our blood drive and we truly appreciate their contribution and support. Special thanks go out to Kathryn Thompson, our blood drive chairperson, who did a phenomenal job of coordinating the chairpersons for each school with the LI Blood Services in order to ensure a smooth and efficient timetable for all our donors. This blood drive would not have been successful without the fantastic cooperation of the Woodward Parkway custodians, Principal Anita Solovey, Ass't. Principal Murray Cantor and the Woodward Parkway PTA for the use of their school. I cannot say enough about the commitment and dedication of our community members. As always here in Farmingdale, once a call for help goes out, there is never a shortage of people willing to do just that. On behalf of all the PTA units, I sincerely thank you for giving so generously of your time, cooperation and most of all for giving the "Gift of Life."

Kathy Dowling, President

Farmingdale Council of PTAs