On Sunday July 29th, something other than Guinness flowed at the Irish Social Club. Forty-four people showed up to donate and thirty-three pints of blood was donated.

The Red Cross truck arrived at 7:00 am and off loaded all supplies. By 9:00 am, people were lined up to donate blood.

Mary Maloney, President of the Irish Social Club, was the receptionist. Kathleen Sullivan, the cookie lady, did kitchen duty. Tea, coffee and sandwiches were available for the workers all day. Pat Casey was manning the hospitality table with cold drinks and goodies.

Nine Red Cross workers and one registered nurse were on duty all day. The Red Cross staff was very impressed by the way they were pampered at the Club. The hospitality was the best that they ever received at a blood drive.

The five clubs that participated were the Irish Social Club, the Boston Irish Music Club, Norwood Irish Music Club, Knights and Ladies of Saint Finbarr and County Donegal Club.

Blood emergency is still in effect; people who signed up to donate and didn’t show can donate in the name of their club at Red Cross Donor Center, 180 Rustcraft Rd, Dedham MA 1800-462-9400.

Thank you to the radio stations T.C. Cummings 1600 WUNR and 950 WROL. Thank you to the clubs that emailed their members. Thank you to Katie Lawler, the Red Cross representative, who did the entire ad set up around the neighborhood.

A very special thanks to the Irish Emigrant for the prominent ad placed on the back page for the blood drive.

Hopefully, this blood drive will be an annual event at the Irish Social Club and people that missed it this year will get another chance at donating.