PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Pierce Township Fire Department will host a community blood drive next week 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 Friday, Sept. 11, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. at Station 44, 950 Locust Corner Road, 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 station for the event. Residents can schedule an appointment at hoxworth.org/groups/piercefire 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 Pierce Township Fire Department, led by Fire Chief Craig Wright, provides fire and EMS coverage across about 37 square miles serving roughly 18,000 residents, including contracted service to Ohio Township. The department operates two stations with 43 personnel, evolved from a volunteer department established in 1956, and holds a 4/4Y rating from the Insurance Services Office, placing it among roughly 7,000 fire departments nationally to achieve that rating.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pierce Township Fire Department.