COMMUNITY CONNECTION

A M I L L E R - K E Y S T O N E B L O O D C E N T E R P U B L I C A T I O N

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Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s 25th annual signature fundraiser, the Cruise Aboard the LifeLine, returns to its roots at the Bethlehem Donor Center on Friday, May 3! On that evening, guests can anticipate an-other fun-filled event as passengers Cruise Around the World!

In addition to pre-senting sponsor, Air Products, and pledge sponsor, BSI Corporate Benefits, premier spon-sors committed for our 2019 Jubilee event include (as of February 25): Berkone, Inc., BLC Textiles, Campbell Rap-pold & Yurasits LLP, Concannon Miller & Co PC, Delta Dental, Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, P.C.; Hospital Central Services, Klunk & Millan,

Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Multi-Tech Construction Inc.,

Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the LV, RCN, St. Luke’s University Health

Network, and Trans-Bridge Lines.

As always, an excellent group of local gourmet

caterers and restau-rants will provide tempting Cruise cui-sine, while guests will also have the oppor-

tunity to enjoy won-derful entertainment and

an exciting silent auction, as well as the always popular

casino deck.

While our crew is hard at work, we hope that you are making your preparations to attend our 2019 Cruise as well!

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25TH ANNUAL CRUISE ABOARD THE LIFELINE SETS SAIL ON MAY 3! Join Honorary Captain Kurt Landes for a Cruise Around the World

BLOOD CENTER LAUNCHES “BLEED LOCAL” INITIATIVE WITH REGIONAL CHAMBERS OF COMMERCEGreater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce (GLVCC) businesses and Greater Reading Cham-ber Alliance (GRCA) members have supported

Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s (MKBC) life-saving mission since its inception. In partnership with GLVCC and GRCA, Miller-Keystone has launched

IN THIS ISSUE

DONOR CENTER LOCATIONS: 1255 S. Cedar Crest Boulevard, Suite 1300, Allentown, PA 18103 • 1465 Valley Center Parkway, Bethlehem, PA 18017 • 2925 William Penn Highway, Suite 105, Easton, PA 18045 • 2745A Leiscz’s Bridge Road, Reading, PA 19605 • 1410 Parkside Avenue, Ewing Township, New Jersey 08638

SATELLITE LOCATIONS: Western Pocono Community Library, 131 Pilgrim Way, Brodheadsville, PA 18322 • Hazle Township Commons Building, 103 West 27th Street, Hazle Township PA 18202 • Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 102 N. Hellertown Avenue, Quakertown, PA 18951 • Plainfield Volunteer Fire Company, 6480 Sullivan Trail, Wind Gap, PA 18091 • St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1105 E. Lincoln Highway, Exton, PA  19341

Cruise Aboard The LifelinePA G E 1

"Bleed Local" initiativePA G E 1

Did you know?PA G E 2

Miller-Keystone Blood Center honors local leaders

PA G E 4

Comments from our website PA G E 4

Bethlehem resident reunited with blood donors who saved his life

PA G E 5

Scholarship deadlines approaching

PA G E 5

Out & About PhotosPA G E 6 - 7

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• Have you marked your calendar for 6:00 PM, FRIDAY, MAY 3?

• Would your organization like to join our growing list of sponsors? A VARIETY OF SPONSORSHIP LEVELS, RANGING FROM $5,000 TO $300, ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

• Do you have a S P E C I A L A U C T I O N I T E M that you would like to donate?

• Would your organization like to place an ad in our program book? FULL, HALF, QUARTER AND BUSINESS-CARD SIZE ADS ARE AVAILABLE, at costs ranging from $500 to $75.

If you answered “yes” to any of the ques-tions above, contact Michael McShane, Director of Development, at 800-223-6667, ext. 1294 or develop@GIVEaPINT.org for additional details. •

CRUISE ABOARD THE LIFELINE continued from p. 1

Paula Bonstein, Lehigh Valley International Airport

Chuck Bostick, Jr., Multi-Tech Construction, Inc.

Paula Buchvalt, Air Products (retired)

DJ Cleaver, The Morning Call

Marie Clemens, Hospital Central Services, Inc.

Mary Diehl, The Morning Call (retired)

Shelley Harkins, Computer Management and Marketing Associates, Inc.

Kim Hellwig, RCN

Kathy Hoy, Miller-Keystone Blood Center

Judy Hunter, Hospital Central Services, Inc.

Heather Kowatch, Capital BlueCross

Val Lewis, BSI Corporate Benefits LLC

Linda and George Nabb, Dream Events

Dan Walsh, Viamedia

Jeff Warren, Progressive Consulting Strategies, LLC

Lauren Zsilavecz, Miller- Keystone Blood Center

2019 CRUISE ABOARD THE LIFELINE COMMITTEEHONORARY CAPTAINKurt Landes, Lehigh Valley IronPigs

CRUISE COMMIT TEE

DEVELOPMENT DIREC TORMichael McShane, Miller-Keystone Blood Center

is a publication designed to inform our community about the programs and services of the Miller-Keystone Blood Center.

COMMUNITYCONNECTIONA M I L L E R - K E Y S T O N E B L O O D C E N T E R P U B L I C AT I O N

"BLEED LOCAL" INITIATIVE co nt i n u e d f ro m p. 1

S P R I N G 2019

John Haney, FACHE, ChairmanDirector of Finance – Grand View Health Physician Group (retired)

Joseph Bubba, Esq., Vice ChairmanShareholder – Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, P.C.

Everitt F. Binns, Ph.D., SecretaryDirector, EMS/Transport – Grand View Health (retired)

Peter J. Castagna, Jr., President & CEOMiller-Keystone Blood Center

James AndersonPrincipal – Campbell, Rappold & Yurasits LLP

Robert Begliomini, BS, PharmD, MBA, FASHPPresident – Lehigh Valley Health Network-Muhlenberg

James Chiadis, M.D.Pathologist – Sacred Heart Hospital

Rocco DelVecchioPresident – Merchants Bank

Laurie HackettDirector of Community Relations – Air Products

Dr. Amanda HaynesDirector of Transfusion Medicine – Geisinger Health System

Christopher LaCoe, DBA, RN, FACHEVP, Operations – Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Douglas MichelsPresident & CEO – OraSure Technologies (retired)

Ray Midlam, MBANetwork VP, Business Development & Strategy – St. Luke’s University Health Network

Ron TichoVP, Corporate Strategy & External Affairs, Coordinated Health

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

a unique way for Chamber members and busi-nesses to get more involved and help save more lives in the community. Through our Bleed Local program, Chamber members can customize their level of support through hosting Blood Drives, contributing financially or simply branding their business Bleed Local!

WHY BLEED LOCAL? Where you donate makes a difference – when you donate blood with MKBC, you’re helping save the lives of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and more right here…in our community. As the sole blood supplier to our community hospitals, they depend on us and the 100,000 + lives that are saved or improved from blood donations.

MKBC needs to collect over 450 units of blood each day to meet the needs of the patients in our region. Our loyal and committed donor base is aging and some are unable to continue due to health and eligibility challenges – the power and influence of Chamber members, their employees and families, gives MKBC the best opportunity to sustain our mission.

HOW CAN YOUR ORGANIZATION BLEED LOCAL? • RUN SCHEDULED BLOOD DRIVES at your

business enabling your employees to give the gift of life.

• If a Blood Drive is too challenging to run (time and work requirements), CONSIDER OUR “ADOPT-A-BED” OPTION , that enables your employees to donate at one of our Donor Cen-ters – we will keep track of the units and recog-nize your business online and on-site at Donor Centers.

• PROUDLY DISPLAY OUR GLVCC & MKBC PARTNERSHIP BLEED LOCAL DECAL in your window and post information to raise awareness and the need for blood donations.

• MKBC also offers opportunities for your team to VOLUNTEER AT OUR DONOR CENTERS .

• SUPPORT OUR DEVELOPMENT AC TIVI-TIES – our signature Cruise Aboard the Lifeline has been voted Best Annual Charity or Social Event by Lehigh Valley Style two years in a row.

In return for support of our Bleed Local initiative, an organization can expect to receive a variety of benefits including recognition on our website, social media and at our donor centers, and the potential to receive an MKBC Local Leader Award. Blood Drive sponsors will receive flyers, custom-izable inserts for pay stubs or mailboxes (where applicable) and/or PDF version for email/intranet

site announcing dates for promotion, as well as messaging to include in em-ployee communications, intranet sites, etc. They will also receive laminated Bleed Local donor keytags for your employees, co-branded with company logo and MKBC sponsor code.

For more information on MKBC’s Bleed Local program, contact Michael McShane, Senior Direc-tor of Recruitment, Development & Marketing at 800-223-6667, ext. 1294 or visit GIVEaPINT.org/bleed-local.

THANKS TO ORGANIZATIONS CURRENTLY PA R T I C I PAT I N G: Air Products; American Cancer Society; B Braun Medical; Bear Creek Mountain; Cancer Support Community-LV; Caron Foundation; Carpenter Tech; Computer Aid; County of Berks; County of Northampton; Crayola; Diamond Credit Union; Diamond Credit Union-Pottstown; Discovery Federal Credit Union–Wyomissing ; Dun & Bradstreet; East Penn Manufacturing; First Commonwealth-Bethlehem; First Commonwealth-Easton; First Commonwealth-Lehighton; Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, LLC; #FlyLVIA; Glad Tid-ings Church; Global Advanced Metals-Boyer-town; Good Shepherd Rehabilitation; Grand

View Health; Harleysville Bank; High-mark Blue Shield; JBS Meats-Soud-

erton; Just Born; Kistler O’Brien; KME-Nesquehoning; Knoll-East

Greenville; Lehigh Athletics; Lehigh County Government; Lehigh Valley IronPigs; Lutron; LVHN-17th & Chew; LVHN-I78 & Cedar Crest; LVHN-Mack

Boulevard; LVHN-Muhlenberg; Martin Guitar; Merchants Bank;

Outten Jeep; Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the LV; Penn State

Health St. Joseph; People First Fed-eral Credit Union; Peoples Security Bank and Trust-Emerick Blvd.; QNB #1208; Reading Hospital Rehabilitation; Reading Hospital- Tower Health; Redners Warehouse; Reeb Millwork; Saints Phi l ip And James RCC; Schneider ; Shif t 4 ; St . Luke’s-Allentown; St. Luke’s-Gnaden Huetten; St. Luke’s-Miners; St. Luke’s-Monroe; St. Luke’s-Palmerton; St. Luke’s-Quakertown; St. Luke’s-Warren; St. Luke’s-Anderson; St. Luke’s-Sacred Heart; St. Luke’s-St. Luke’s Way; St. Lukes-Fountain Hill; St. Peter’s United Church of Christ; Stitch Fix; The Mortgage Company; The Water Guy; UGI-Reading #1; UGI-Utilities, Inc. (Bethle-hem); UGI-Reading #2; Uline; Univest; Victaulic; Western Express Trucking. •

LEROY SUTTON of Easton has the distinction of being MKBC’S

FIRST 100-GALLON DONOR, and recently he reached a remarkable

achievement when HE MADE HIS 1,000TH DONATION. In honor

of this very special achievement, MKBC recently announced that we are

DEDICATING A DONOR CHAIR at our Bethlehem Center in his honor. DID YOU KNOW THAT RED BLOOD CELLS AND

PLATELETS ARE PERISHABLE? Red blood cells can only be stored for up to 42 days, while Platelets have a usable lifespan of only five days. This makes the need for a steady, ongoing stream of Blood Donors critical to the health & welfare of our community. To schedule your appointment, call 800-B-A-DONOR or visit GIVEaPINT.org! 

Peter J. Castagna, Jr. President & CEO

D. Kip Kuttner, D.O. Vice President, Medical Director

John Willson Vice President, Fiscal Affairs

Michael McShane Senior Director, Recruitment, Development & Marketing

Marie S. Clemens Editor

Phone: 610-691-5850 • 800-B-A-DONORFax: 610-691-2326 • Website: www.GIVEaPINT.org

Readers are invited to send their comments and letters to us at:

Miller-Keystone Blood CenterLehigh Valley Corporate Center1465 Valley Center ParkwayBethlehem, PA 18017

4 5S P R I N G 2019CO M M U N I T Y CO N N E C T I O N

MILLER-KEYSTONE BLOOD CENTER HONORS LOCAL LEADERS Local Leader Campaign Recognizes Blood Donor Recruitment Success By Area Schools, Businesses, Church Groups & Other Organizations

MKBC recently recognized 24 area organizations for their commitment to the health and welfare of our community through blood drive sponsorship.

“Our Local Leaders campaign recognizes those schools, businesses, church groups and other or-ganizations who go above and beyond the call of duty to support their community,” said Michael McShane, Senior Director of Recruitment, Devel-opment and Marketing, Miller-Keystone Blood Center. “By hosting blood drives with our regional blood provider, these organizations are also sup-porting the MKBC Mission Statement, which is ‘Saving lives by partnering with our community to provide a continuous supply of blood products and services’.”

Honorees were acknowledged for collecting at least 200 lifesaving units during the 2018 calen-dar year. The Blood Center has recognized these groups with a plaque presentation at their school, church or place of business, as well as on the MKBC website and social media platforms.

EAST PENN MANUFAC TURING . . 879 Units

DANIEL BOONE HIGH SCHOOL . . 754 Units

READING HIGH SCHOOL . . . . . . . 444 Units

PENN STATE HEALTH –

ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER . . . 421 Units

READING HOSPITAL –

TOWER HEALTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 Units

LEHIGH UNIVERSIT Y. . . . . . . . . . . 380 Units

GOVERNOR MIFFLIN

HIGH SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 Units

STITCH FIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Units

T WIN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL . . . . 310 Units

PALMERTON COMMUNIT Y . . . . . . 310 Units

LEHIGH VALLEY HEALTH NET WORK –

I -78 & CEDAR CREST . . . . . . . . . . 306 Units

MISTER CAR WASH . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Units

KUTZTOWN UNIVERSIT Y – COMMUNIT Y

OUTREACH CENTER . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Units

ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER

ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISH . . . . . 262 Units

FLEET WOOD HIGH SCHOOL . . . . 253 Units

KEMPTON EXCAVATING . . . . . . . . 239 Units

SCHNEIDER ELEC TRIC . . . . . . . . . 225 Units

MUHLENBERG HIGH SCHOOL . . . 220 Units

AIR PRODUC TS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Units

AMAZON.COM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Units

LEHIGH VALLEY HEALTH

NET WORK – MUHLENBERG . . . . . 211 Units

PERKIOMEN VALLEY

HIGH SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Units

LAFAYET TE COLLEGE . . . . . . . . . . 207 Units

RIDER UNIVERSIT Y . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Units

For more information on Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s Local Leaders campaign, or to arrange for a blood drive at your school, church, place of business or other organization, call 800-B-A-DONOR or visit GIVEaPINT.org! •

BETHLEHEM RESIDENT REUNITED WITH BLOOD DONORS WHO SAVED HIS LIFEOn Wednesday, October 4, Miller-Keystone Blood Center joined Bethlehem resident Jared Dowling at Northampton Country Club for a Celebration of Hope as he was united with some of the blood donors who helped save his life. In 2012, Jared was diagnosed with ALL (Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). During the course of his care, Jared received more than 20 blood transfusions. He has been in remission since 2015 and is now a 16-year-old student at Freedom High School.

“In 2016, Miller-Keystone Blood Center launched our ‘Celebrate Hope’ initiative,” explains Michael McShane, Senior Director of Recruitment, Development and Marketing, Miller-Keystone Blood Center. “This campaign seeks to unite local transfusion recipients with the blood donors who helped to save their lives.”

“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to unite Jared and his family with some of his lifesavers, and to thank them for their generous decision to donate blood,” McShane adds.

For more information on Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s “Celebrate Hope” campaign, visit GIVEaPINT.org/celebrate-hope. •

SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINES APPROACHING!Applications for the 2019 High School Blood Donor Recruitment Scholarship are due to be received by the Blood Center no later than April 30. This award  is designed to encourage and reward a high school blood drive coordina-tor for their efforts in stimulating interest and increasing the available blood supply within the  Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties served by MKBC.

It has never been easier for a student to earn scholarship monies towards their post-sec-ondary education – by simply hosting one or more blood drives with MKBC and achieving certain recruitment benchmarks, a student from every high school in our community can be guaranteed a scholarship award. Scholar-ships are awarded per school, based on the results of the individual schools’ blood drives during the year.

Applications for the 2019 Ralph (Bill) and Jacqueline Younger Student Volunteer Scholarship are due to be received by the Blood Center no later than March 31. This award  acknowledges the outstanding student volunteer participation at Miller-Keystone Blood Center by a graduating high school senior, and is presented in recognition of the importance of student volunteerism to the health and welfare of the community.

In 2015, this award was renamed in honor of Bill and Jackie Younger, two of the Blood Cen-ter’s most dedicated volunteers who donated more than 25,000 hours of service to MKBC. They were also both dedicated blood donors, having donated more than 43 gallons, saving the lives of thousands in our community. We are proud that the continued presentation of this scholarship award in their name ensures that their legacy and  commitment for the Blood Center and for our community lives on.

For additional details on either scholarship opportunity, select the “Our Community” tab on our website at GIVEaPINT.org! •

“ Another smooth and enjoyable donation. Your staff is great – each donation is like visiting with friends, I look forward to seeing them each time.

They are always laughing, joking, smiling… really terrific. Thank you!”

“ Your associates are always polite, friendly and make the experience as pleasant as possible. I appreciate their

kindness and appreciation for the individuals who donate to help others. Keep up the good work and see you

in the New Year! ”

“ Friendly staff and very informative. They answered all

my questions and concerns. Keep up the great work!”

“ I don’t like needles and all of the people I have

interacted with are very good at taking my

mind off of it and keeping my mind occupied,

they are so friendly and down to earth.

I just want to say I appreciate it.”

“ This was my first time at the Donor Center, I usually give on mobile drives. Everyone was great. Love the facility and I will definitely come back!”

“ A wonderful experience! Everyone was friendly and efficient.

I recently moved to the area. I have found my new blood donor center!”

“ One word describes the whole team … professional!”

COMMENTS FROM OUR WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA

6 7S P R I N G 2019CO M M U N I T Y CO N N E C T I O N

OUT&ABOUT

Congrats to donor Matthew Larimer who was recently recog-nized by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms as our “Lifesaver of the Game!”

Thank you to everyone coming

out for the 16th annual Angela Hohl Memorial Blood Drive sponsored by Daniel Boone Area High School!

 

This year’s “Battle for Blood” between Lehigh University and Lafayette College was a resounding success, with Lehigh University coming out victorious!

Congratulations to Pamela Herbert, winner of the Drive for Life Blood Drive event with 99.9 THE HAWK & Ciocca Subaru !

Thanks to Abby, Lauren & Kelly – our own “Breakfast Blood Club” for visiting recently!

First-time donors Tom & Adrienne Moore paid a visit to our Allentown Donor Center to donate blood in honor of their 6-year-old daughter, Leslie, who was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) in 2017.

Shout-out to Rider University’s Women’s Basketball! Thanks for coming out to donate!

CONGRATULATIONS to our donors who recently achieved MILESTONE DONATION LEVELS!

CAROL LONG 50 Gallons

JOHN MORIARITY 100 Gallons

RONALD KOCH 50 GALLONS

KEVIN BITZ 75 Gallons

WE ARE! We had a great turn out for the very first Penn State Alumni Fall Blood Drive event!

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Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 484

Lehigh Valley, PA

Lehigh Valley Corporate Center1465 Valley Center Parkway

Bethlehem, PA 18017

Miller-Keystone Blood Center currently serves as the only blood provider to the following hospital systems:

GeisingerBloomsburg, PA • Camp Hill, PA Danville, PA • Jersey Shore, PA Lewistown, PA • Scranton, PA Wilkes-Barre, PA

Grand View HealthSellersville, PA

Hunterdon HealthcareFlemington, NJ

Lehigh Valley Health NetworkAllentown, PA • Bethlehem, PA Hazleton, PA • Pottsville, PA

Penn State Health – St. Joseph Medical CenterReading, PA

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical CenterHershey, PA

Reading Health System – Tower HealthReading, PA

St. Luke’s University Health NetworkAllentown, PA • Bethlehem, PA Coaldale, PA • Easton, PA • Lehighton, PA Palmerton, PA • Quakertown, PA Stroudsburg, PA • Phillipsburg, NJ

OUR HOSPITALS

MILLER-KEYSTONE BLOOD CENTER

YOUR HOSPITAL’S CHOICE FOR LIFE-SAVING BLOOD.

UPCOMING BLOOD DRIVESFor the most up-to-date listing of lifesaving Blood Drives in your community, visit donor.GIVEaPINT.org or follow us on:

facebook.com/millerkeystone

twitter.com/millerkeystone

instagram.com/miller_keystone

CO M M U N I T Y CO N N E C T I O N