(Washington, DC) - U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.) today announced that his annual community-wide blood drive will take place at the Bayside Long Island Railroad station on Bell Boulevard on Monday, October 23, 2006 from 11:30 AM to 5:00 PM. The undertaking is organized and coordinated by the Congressman and his staff in conjunction with the New York Blood Center.

The blood drive encourages members of the public who are older than 17 years of age and weigh more than 110 pounds to donate a pint of blood. The process takes less than one hour and includes a free mini medical exam (pulse, temperature, blood pressure, iron count, cholesterol, etc.). Five medical personnel in the Blood Center’s state of the art “Blood Mobile” will conduct the process. This year’s goal is to collect 45 pints.

Those seeking additional information can contact the Congressman’s Bayside office at 718-423-2154.

"Our past blood drives have been great successes” Ackerman said. “So I encourage local residents to once again help out and donate a pint.”

The New York Blood Center is the main supplier of blood for 200 hospitals in Queens, Long Island, New York City, Westchester, Rockland County and northern New Jersey. It supplies an average of 2000 pints of blood per day.

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