Helping the community is in one man's blood
Martin Engel is honored for running successful blood drives each year
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

Martin Engel

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Martin Engel has been donating blood for 60 years. On Feb. 25, the township blood bank he runs was awarded by America's Blood Centers (ABC) as the most productive small blood drive in the nation.

"I started donating blood in 1948 and have continued blood donations since then, usually multiple times a year," Engel said.

Engel talked about his award.

"I was rather surprised and certainly pleased," he said. "I didn't think we were one of the most productive blood banks. I'm always very disappointed in the amount of people we have come in to donate. The numbers seem to get lower every time. The township grows and the numbers don't seem to keep up with that."

What does Engel think is the problem?

"It's a two-fold problem," he said. "Nationwide, based on the people available to do it, 5 percent of people donate blood. In New Jersey, that number drops below 2.8 percent."

Another problem, Engel said, is the strict regulations handed down by the FDA.

"If you leave the country, you can't donate for one year," he said, speaking about a woman who travels often and therefore cannot donate anymore. "It hurts."

Engel also believes his entire committee should have been honored.

"This award belongs to my committee because there are nine people working with me. It's a very dedicated, hard-working group. It's a group operation."

Engel began donating blood because of his involvement in World War II as an air raid messenger.

"They always called for blood donations," he said. "I started then and just kept it up."

He started working for the South Brunswick Community Blood Bank as an assistant to the committee chair in 1978.

"In April of 1992, we had our high point," Engel said. "We had 231 donors and collected 210 pints."

However, after that day, the head of the blood bank, who was committee chairman Al Dashevsky, told everyone he was moving out of town to Monroe.

"We all looked to each other and kind of thought, Now what do we do?" Engel said.

However, Engel took over, and the blood bank has continued thriving.

"Of the committee of 12 we started with, nine are still doing it," he said. "We're doing pretty well."

The bank has collected a total of 5,351 pints of blood in all the 17 years he has been leading the group.

In addition to the April 1992 drive, the drive after Sept. 11, 2001, was also a successful one.

"We had to turn people away at the end of the day," Engel said.

They hold four drives each year, two at the community center in June and July and two at Congregation B'nai Tikvah in North Brunswick in April and October.

He said the drives are hard work and are long, tiring days. He greets everyone at the door and thanks him or her for donating blood. There are also about 15 others doing the actual blood work.

Engel has to deal with certain problems every year.

"Somebody fainting, someone slipping off the chair, collapsing on the way to the bed," he said. "I have to solve problems."

He said the drives largely remain the same. The only difference between when he started d and now is that there are different ways to draw the blood.

"The Alyx procedure allows a double donation," he said. "It's not two pints of whole blood, it's two units of red cells."

Engel said the most rewarding part of doing this is that he's still doing it 17 years later. However, he knows he has to get some new people on the committee, to work for the future.

"We tried to get some young folks involved so that when we start retiring or moving away, there will be people to continue. I would love to be able to have some people in their 40s or early 50s to be around for when the time comes to carry on."

ABC held a banquet in honor of all the winners of its 11th annual Award of Excellence on Feb. 25. However, Engel could not attend due to sickness.