Blood drive for shooting victims held

Douglas High alums join Wednesday effort, which collects 80 pints.

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Wednesday hit close to home for three staff members at Premier Family Health and Wellness in Wellington.

Dr. Shane Zacharewicz, business and marketing manager Ryan Mackman, and Amanda Morone all graduated from the school where a gunman killed 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others.

The practice in the Wellington Reserve plaza at 1037 S. State Road 7 hosted two OneBlood Big Red Buses on Friday to collect blood to help those affected by the shootings.

They collected about 80 pints of blood. To put that in context, a OneBlood team member said during a five-hour drive in front of a grocery store, they are lucky to get 10 pints.

The turnout was so great that OneBlood brought a third bus and extended the drive by an hour to 5 p.m.

“We had alumni coming from Coral Springs, driving by blood drives closer to them because they knew we were alumni too, and that we were doing something and make a difference,” Zacharewicz said.

“It scared me,” Mackman said of the shooting at his alma mater. “It scared me to my bones.”

They went to the vigil last night in their hometown.

Mackman and Zacharewicz were classmates of Douglas High assistant football coach Aaron Feis, who witnesses said died protecting students from the shooter.

Premier staff handed out ribbons in Douglas High colors of burgundy and silver, and those who attended were encouraged to wear the school colors.

“In the face of tragedy, Premier hopes to show that love, help and support can be found in each other,” the clinic said.

OneBlood said in a news release Wednesday that it is in particular need of O-negative blood to replenish its supply.

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