Former West End Fire Co. No. 2 President Keith Cebrosky and Palmerton Mayor Christopher Olivia were recognized for the area’s incredible contributions to the Miller-Keystone Blood Center with a Local Leader award on Friday morning.

“At Miller-Keystone Blood Center, we developed a program called Local Leaders,” director of donor resources Debra Otto said. “On an annual basis, all those organizations that collect 200 units or more are recognized with a plaque of appreciation. We come out and recognize and thank the people that do such a great job.”

The Palmerton community and West End Fire Co. No. 2 surpassed that 200 unit mark by a wide margin.

“For 2017, it was 345 units,” donor resources representative Cindy Carra said. “Local Leaders is a distinction for a group that can produce 200 units, so they far exceeded that.”

Palmerton and West End Fire Company No. 2 ranked seventh in total donated units, including red cells and blood platelets, throughout the southeastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey region.

“We’re very proud of our Miller-Keystone Blood Center. Palmerton is glad that we can help in any way. Organizations like West End Fire Company go above and beyond the call of duty, and we’re also proud of them, very much,” Olivia said.

Otto said that Palmerton has reliably supported blood donation efforts for years, and their efforts are truly appreciated.

“This is a true community organization, a group of volunteers who, every two months, run a blood drive. They’ve done so for years and years, and brought new donors into the mix. We rely on them very heavily,” Otto said. “We need to see about 400 people a day, every day, in order to make sure we have enough blood on the shelves to meet the transfusion needs of 22 or 23 hospitals.”

Everyone on hand at the award presentation couldn’t help but bring up local legend George Ashman, who ran the drive for years. Otto said that Ashman was the grass-roots start of the program, and that he had a team of callers for donations that exceeded her own telerecruitment department.

“He was go-getter, even when he could hardly move. He got everybody,” Olivia said.

While the drive was previously housed in a local church, when Ashman’s efforts grew too large for the building, West End Fire Company jumped in to help.

“I know when they came to us about having it here instead of at the church, we were more than glad to take them in,” Cebrosky said.

The next West End Fire Company Miller-Keystone blood drive will be on [naviga:font size="2"]11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on May 14.[/naviga:font]