Boston Celtics Honor Mark Venezia As 'Hero Among Us'

PEABODY, MA — Peabody resident Mark Venezia was honored as a Boston Celtics 'Hero Among Us' for his efforts to organize blood drives multiple times each month at the Big Night Live venue where he is the director of VIP.

Venezia collaborated with the American Red Cross to host the drives at the music hall — while it was unoccupied during the day.

What started as a single blood drive in 2020 now consists of up to three drives per month — with 118 blood drives potentially contributing to saving more than 12,200 lives over the past three years amid a national blood crisis.

Venezia was honored at the end of the first quarter of Boston's Dec. 15 home game vs. the Orlando Magic.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)