Statistician tallies 100th pint of blood
Frequent donor tracks participation over four decades
NORWALK — The first time Larry Schwartz donated blood, he was 19 years old and nervous.
It was June 6, 1977, at a community blood drive in his hometown of Westbury, Long Island. He took part at his mother’s suggestion.
“I guess I wasn’t into it and I guess it wasn’t what you call fun,” said Schwartz, now 61.
He had no plans to donate again, and in fact, he didn’t for another five years. But in 1982, he was encouraged to donate again, this time by a colleague.
“So, I decided to get on board,” he said.
Schwartz knows each date and place he has donated pints of blood. He’s now retired but had a career as a statistician. Apparently, that’s the kind of thing they do. His notes and a spreadsheet detail every single blood drive he’s visited since 1977.
On Monday, Schwartz donated his 100th pint of Type O at the East Norwalk Library.
“I’m trying to promote that this is a good thing,” he said. “I know
I’ve gone overboard but it’s a nice thing to do.”
He’s collected a series of pins the Red Cross distributes to honor frequent donors. He has 12 pins, one for each gallon donated, and they’re labeled accordingly.
He received his first pin in 1985, after almost eight years of donating. He collected his second pin eight years later.
According to his spreadsheet, some years he donated five or six times.
“I know that by doing this I’m helping cancer patients, trauma patients, sickle cell patients, burn victims and patients with chronic diseases," he said. “Those people tend to use donor blood. They need the services,” he said.
Even though most people are eligible to donate, only 4 percent of the population does, said Pat Pattonelli, collections team supervisor with the American Red Cross. He’s worked with the organization 16 years and said the Red Cross needs 500 pints of blood per day to ensure Connecticut’s 31 hospitals and acute care centers have adequate amounts of blood. To find a blood drive, go to redcrossblood.org.
Through medical advancements, the need for blood isn’t as great as it once was, Pattonelli said, but there is still always a demand. He said the Red Cross is currently in critical need because demand is outweighing supply.
Schwartz tries to stick to blood drives in Norwalk. Since he donated 41 years ago, he’s given blood in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.
"He’s that kind of a person, that when he does something he commits to it," said his wife, Sharyn Taymor, who was at the blood drive Monday.
She said that in 2009, after Schwartz returned from visiting their son at school in India, he was turned away from donating because he had traveled outside the country. American Red Cross staff members told him he was ineligible to donate for a year.
"He was crushed," Taymor said.
Schwartz remained humble Monday, saying he knows others who have donated just as much or more than him. Without pressing too hard, he tries to encourage others to donate one hour of their day to donate to a good cause, he said.
In addition to frequent donors being rewarded with warmth, pins and gratitude, he said, they also get good snacks.