BETHEL, Ohio — The Bethel-Tate Fire Department will host a community blood drive next month in memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
The drive, held in partnership with Hoxworth Blood Center, is set for Thursday, Sept. 10, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. at the fire department, 149 N. East St. in Bethel, the department said in a Facebook post.
Hoxworth, the blood-collection service affiliated with the University of Cincinnati, will park a donor bus at the fire station for the event. Residents can schedule an appointment at hoxworth.org/groups/betheltatefire or by calling 513-451-0910; appointments are encouraged, according to the department’s flyer. Everyone who donates will receive a Hoxworth flannel shirt.
Hoxworth Blood Center traces its roots to 1938, when Dr. Paul Hoxworth opened Cincinnati’s first community blood bank at what was then Cincinnati General Hospital. The service became part of the University of Cincinnati in 1944 and was renamed in Hoxworth’s honor in 1973. It is the oldest operating blood bank in the country and the only community blood bank in the United States affiliated with a university, collecting more than 100,000 units of blood a year to supply more than 30 hospitals across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
The Bethel-Tate Fire Department provides fire and EMS coverage for the village of Bethel and Tate Township. The department, staffed primarily by volunteers alongside career personnel, holds an ISO Class 3/3Y rating, placing it among the top 12% of fire departments nationally for fire protection capability.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Bethel-Tate Fire Department.