AIDS and apathy have cut the supply, but not the need, for Detroit area blood donors After giving blood, donors can expect cookies and sympathy. Increasing The Flow DEBBIE WAWS,LANDAU Special to The Jewish News I Charles and Diana Blauer: Regular donors. 34 Friday, May 1, 1987 RUE or FALSE? • You can get AIDS (ac- quired immune deficiency syndrome) from donating blood. • You cannot give blood if you have been anemic. • You must pay for blood or replace it if you receive a transfusion during surgery or a medical emergency. If you answered "false" to all the above questions, you are among an informed community Diana and Charles Blauer would like to see expand. "There's no way an individual can get AIDS from giving blood," . Diana emphasizes. "Sterile, dispos- able needles are used in blood drives which have never come into contact with the body fluids of an- other person. That's the only way one can catch AIDS." The Blauers are a husband- and-wife team who have co-chaired the annual blood drives sponsored by the B'nai B'rith and B'nai B'rith Women's Councils of Metropolitan Detroit for almost ten years: She's a member and past president of the Ivan S. Bloch Chapter. He's a member, current corresponding secretary and past president of the Ivan S. Bloch/ THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Israel Lodge. They have regularly donated blood since their respective councils began an enduring rela- tionship with the Southeastern Michigan American Red Cross in the years following World War II. Because Charlie's work for a food wholesaler meant early day- time hours, he was uniquely avail- able to lend needed hands to the blood drives. Diana was first asked by the B'nai B'rith Women's Coun- cil president to chair the event. They will again demonstrate their commitment to the program when the second of four annual blood drives commences. at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park. "B'nai B'rith and B'nai B'rith Women are longtime friends of the American Red Cross," says Paula Scheurer, spokesman for the South- eastern Michigan region. "One of my goals is to find other civic and fraternal groups with their com- mitment and willingness to keep the available supply of blood up. It's quite a challenge." The challenge has gotten tougher as a result of misconcep- tions arising from the widely- publicized AIDS crisis, and general misinformation among the public. Diana Blauer says, "There and over 40 combined lodges, chapters and professional units among the membership of B'nai B'rith and B'nai B'rith Women. In the past, it was usual to get 40 or even 50 members from one chapter, lodge or unit to donate on one day. The most recent drives have been very disappointing. Our last drive re- ceived less than 50 pints total in two days." The trend Diana notices is widespread among drives in fac- tories, et arch groups and other organizations, according to Paula Scheuer. "I really believe positive pub- licity, and just nudging each other to make an extra effort would get those numbers up," Diana believes. "We've been holding the drives at Temple Emanu-El for the past sev- eral years. The drives are specifi- cally designed to operate between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays to encourage people to come after work." Lillian Sklar, a past president of Marshall Chapter of B'nai B'rith Women, is volunteer coordinator for the blood drives. Some of our members have been volunteering their time for 25 or even 30 years," she said. "Our volunteers assist the Red Cross personnel on site in a number of ways. Some work regis- tration, some provide refreshments in the canteen area, many assist with matching the 'zebra' numbers on the registration forms with the bags and vials of blood to insure absolute accuracy of identification."