Blood drive, lifeguard style

The grill was hot and the sodas were plenty.

What looked like a scene from a beachside barbecue was actually a

blood drive -- lifeguard style.

Newport Beach Lifeguards sponsored a blood drive Friday, drawing

in residents and tourists who donated 45-minutes of their time to

give blood, some of which may go to the New Orleans area to help

Hurricane Katrina survivors.

The blood drive, held at the lifeguard headquarters at the base of

the Newport Pier, lasted hours. By 5 p.m., 45 people had already

donated, and lifeguards were expecting more.

“For our guards here it’s important to start seeing that saving

lives isn’t just out here on the beach,” said Lifeguard Capt. Jim

Turner, who helped coordinate the blood drive.

Janet Johnston and daughter Renee, of San Bernardino, decided to

give up some vacation time Friday afternoon to donate blood.

“It’s the easiest way to donate to people in need,” said Renee

Johnston, a long time blood donor.

Maureen Mccullough, of Huntington Beach, the American Red Cross

nurse heading up Friday’s drive, said the Red Cross always needs

blood, but especially during disasters such as the recent hurricane.

“During crisis times, we get a lot more [donors],” Mccullough

said.

Although the Red Cross has not made an appeal to blood donors

specifically for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, it’s possible that

blood donated at Friday’s drive could go to the New Orleans area,

Mccullough said.

“It’s on everybody’s mind,” Turner said.

Leon Knox and his daughter Meghan, 17, of La Mirada, have wanted

to donate blood for some time and said that the hurricane disaster is

all the more reason to do it now.

“It’s a big motivator,” Knox said.

Jeanne Cassesso of Newport Beach said she and her daughters were

donating blood Friday. Even if the blood doesn’t go toward victims of

Hurricane Katrina, it will be of use to someone, Cassesso said.

“It’s going to go somewhere for somebody who needs help,” Cassesso

said.

Friday’s blood drive was the second of the summer for the Newport

lifeguards. Annually, the blood drives coordinated by the lifeguards

provide more than 100 units of blood to help more than 300 people in

need.

Anyone who wants to donate blood to the Red Cross, but could not

make it to the blood drive, can go online to the Red Cross website at

o7www.redcross.orgf7, to find information about where and when to

donate, Mccullough said.