Community

Southold Fire Department honored again for blood donation efforts; next drive set for May 22

A community effort once again has landed the Southold Fire Department the Terry Farrell Award for collecting more pints of donated blood donations than any other department on Long Island and the Hudson Valley.

It’s the fourth straight year the department earned the honors.

The most recent total was 655 units of blood collected over five drives in 2018 — narrowly missing the prior year’s total of 657.

The award is named for a Hicksville FDNY firefighter who died on Sept. 11, and is the highest honor given by the New York Blood Center.

“The blood drives are hosted by the Southold Fire Department but they involve the community of the entire North Fork, drawing donors from Jamesport to Orient,” said Michael Zweig, the department’s blood drive coordinator.

Two of Terry Farrell’s brothers presented the award at an island-wide banquet in Woodbury May 9.

The most recent total for 2018 would have likely set a record if not for a snowstorm that fell on the day of one the drives in March 2018. The Southold drive was the only one on Long Island that didn’t cancel that day, Mr. Zweig said. The drive ended early that day and they still collected 74 units.

The fire department’s efforts won’t be slowing down. The next drive is scheduled for Wednesday, May 22 from 2:15 to 8:15 p.m. All donors after 5 p.m. receive a spaghetti dinner and homemade pie.