Jeff Frazier of Glenside was recently featured in The Washington Post for donating platelets at the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center in the West Gate shopping center on Welsh Road in Horsham. The center focuses on platelet donations.
Platelets are a key clotting component of blood. Burn victims, bone marrow recipients, those suffering trauma, and cancer patients especially need what the Red Cross calls “liquid gold.” Ideally, platelets can be donated every seven days, up to 24 times a year.
Frazier, an agent with eXp Realty, LLC in Jenkintown, walked in for his 12th platelet donation for the year and ended up being photographed and interviewed by The Washington Post’s Caroline Gutman and Teddy Amenabar, respectively.
The Post reporter noticed that Frazier’s name appears on numerous plaques on the clinic’s honor wall. The plaques usually list about 60 donors who have donated at least 18 times in any given year. Frazier “fights hard to hit 24.” His fellow platelet donor and church friend, Ed Schnitzel, have a friendly rivalry as to who will get to 24 donations first.
Platelets in rectangular bag to the right
“There are lots of dedicated donors at our Horsham location,” Frazier said. “Horsham was just awarded the #1 platelet donation center in the country, again. How cool is that?”
The reporter interviewed him about his experiences and the donation process and Frazier gave this analysis: “There are three recipient groups who benefit from platelets. Some receive platelets and live a long life. Others receive platelets and live for a few years.”
The third group was the one cited in the Post’s article:
Frazier has been donating platelets for two decades now. His dad, who was a pastor, once told him that the most important part of someone’s life is in the last few days. Frazier said he donates so people can have those two or three more days to spend time with their loved ones.
“Those last couple of days, family comes in, maybe they mend broken fences,” Frazier told The Post. He noted that, “those are the people I give for; so they can have those last few days to get their affairs in order.”
He hopes that many from our area will donate blood every 56 days or platelets up to 24 times a year. Call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to schedule.
For the full article, you can click here. For more on Frazier’s volunteer work, you can click here.
For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.