Brick Blood Drive Honors Memory Of Realtor Who Battled Cancer

BRICK, NJ — A blood drive to honor the memory of a local man and realtor who battled cancer is set for Thursday in Brick.

Weichert Realtors and Johnnie Ettore are hosting the blood drive at the Laurelton Fire Department to honor Johnnie's husband, Joe Ettore, who died in 2014. He was a realtor with Weichert and Johnnie is still associated with Weichert.

"(Joe Ettore's) life was extended with the help of the many blood donors who anonymously and generously gave blood and platelets," a news release on the blood drive said. "Joe wanted part of his legacy to be to remind people of the importance of the life-giving community service of blood donations."

Johnnie Ettore has been organizing drives twice a year since 2014 in order to carry out Joe’s legacy.

The blood drive Thursday is from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the firehouse, 1725 Route 88 in Brick. Donors are asked to schedule appointments in advance in order to maintain social distancing and can sign up here or call Johnnie Ettore at 732-996-1475.

As a reminder, people are not eligible to donate if they're experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.

It takes one hour to donate, and a single donation can save multiple lives. Roughly one in seven hospital admissions require a blood transfusion. Those in need include: cancer patients, accident, burn, or trauma victims, newborn babies and their mothers, transplant recipients, surgery patients, chronically transfused patients suffering from sickle cell disease or thalassemia, and many more.

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