Just to give you an idea of what we're going through...

I have a friend who works with me at Nestle here in Freehold.
His mother works in downtown Manhatten. He has heard
nothing from her since yesterday. She doesn't answer her
cell phone; he can't reach her at her northern New Jersey
residence. This was at 6:50 a.m. this morning as he was
arriving for work and I leaving. His father also lives somewhere
in the city, but apparently they've been in contact and will
speak again later this morning about their missing loved one.
Multipply this scene by about what they are now estimating
at 25,000 and you begin to get an idea of the trauma New York
City and its suburbs are experiencing now. Please, give blood
if you can.

rick barclay

From the Asbury Park Press, Monmouth County, N.J., 15 miles
due east of where I live, 45 miles south of New York City:

"Area families continued a vigil between hope and despair, waitiing for word on those missing since two planes smashed into the WTC Tuesday and two others plunged from the sky killing those on board.
Meanwhile the confirmed dead included Edward Felt, 41, Matawan, who perished aboard United Flight 93 when the Newar-San Francisco flight went down Tuesday in a field outside Pittsburgh.

Felt, a native of Clinton, N.Y., recently moved to Matawan with his wife Sandra. While Felt's family began making funeral arrangements, countless other shore families clung to hopes that they, too, wouldn't be the recipients of dreaded news.
Confusion reigned, as many towns did not have figures on those missing from their communities. ...
As the day progressed, it appeared the toll in Monmouth and Ocean counties could easily reach into the dozens, if not hundreds. Local officials were starting to sum up human damage:
At Red Bank Regional High School, 30 students were believed to have relatives ranging from parents to aunts and uncles missing.
Middletown schools counted at least 17 students who had a parent who did not return home on Tuesday night.
St. Catharine's RC Church in Holmdel, which serves 2600 area families, had six wives awaiting word on their husbands yesterday, and one couple was hoping for news on their son. At Holmdel schools, where officials dismissed students only if an adult was waiting, the district was working on a "growing list of people who are still missing."
Five were missing in Colt's Neck, according to Twp. officials.
In Marlboro, police confirmed at least four residents are missing in the wreckage.
In Howell, police said two people are missing.
Several people were reported missing each in Fair Haven, Little Silver, and Rumson.
Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Spring Lake Heights, and Sea Girt also reported residents missing in the rubble.
Six parishoners from St. James Catholic Church in Red Bank are missing.
In Ocean County, at least three people are reported missing...."

The rest of the lengthy article continues with individual stories
from and about local area families regarding the circumstances
surrounding their respective plights. We are one of the outermost
areas supplying commuters to N.Y.C. As one travles north of
here, the casualty figures steadily increase in the approach to
the disaster area.

The response to calls for blood donations has been met admirably, to the point that some hospitals are re-directing
donors to other area sites available to store blood. There is,
however, a continuing need for A-positive and A-negative. And
as the first donations are used up in the coming days more
blood will be needed, so please, if you can--help your fellow
citizens in this critical hour of need.

One good note: Louis, the fellow I talked about yesterday,
found his mother, thank God. I don't know if anybody else here
at Nestle, Freehold has a relative missing.

rick barclay

As for the blood - give, by all means. However, I heard on the radio this morning that DC's and NYC's banks are full right now. They'll need more, of course, but blood's shelf life isn't that great - you might want to wait a few days to donate (that's what I'm doing)

Quote:

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Originally posted by Govtcheez
As for the blood - give, by all means. However, I heard on the radio this morning that DC's and NYC's banks are full right now. They'll need more, of course, but blood's shelf life isn't that great - you might want to wait a few days to donate (that's what I'm doing)

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There's a 3-week wait to donate where I live...

Blood has a shelf-life of 35 days. whatever has been donated
to date will surely be used up before then.

rick barclay

Quote:

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Originally posted by static


There's a 3-week wait to donate where I live...

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That's good! It's been consistently around 2 hours or so around here. Yesterday MSU had a blood drive - today there's one at the UAW hall in Lansing. My school's having one this afternoon. The Red Cross is also open 12 hours a day this week to deal with all the people wanting to donate.

Also, it's nice to notice that gas prices are returning to semi-normal (especially for those of us that need to buy it at least 3 times a week). One guy that was charging 2.95/gallon said that he realized it was a huge mistake and he's donating all the profit he made from it to the Red Cross.

> Blood has a shelf-life of 35 days

Really? They were making it sound more like it was like a week or so...

I heard 42 days... ??? :confused:

I'm quoting radio reports about how long the blood lasts. If
you're truly interested, you might find more about it in an
encyclopedia.

rick barclay