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Fort McHenry Squadron conducts 16th community blood drive

Program surpasses 400 pints

By Maj. Douglas Barth, CAP
Public Affairs Officer, Ft. McHenry Composite Squadron

8/1/2009–Catonsville, MD–Mr. Stephen Boehk was the 400th donor in Civil Air Patrol Maryland Wing's Fort McHenry Composite Squadron’s Catonsville Community Blood Drive Campaign. The recent drive was the 16th community blood drive held by the squadron. The four year old community service campaign has now exceeded 405 total pints.

Mr. Boehk, a resident of Catonsville, Md., since 1977 has donated several times at the squadron blood drives. He became a blood donor when a family member was diagnosed with cancer and was in need of a blood transfusion. He has been a donor since then. Mr. Boehk is the one who introduced CAP to his daughter Laura when she looked for activities outside of high school clubs. Now Sr. Mbr. Boehk joined CAP in fall of 2005 as a cadet, earning her Mitchell Award and the grade of cadet 2nd Lt. before transferring to senior member. “I have seen Laura grow and mature through her participation in CAP,” said Mr. Boehk.

The Catonsville Community Blood Drive was organized by the squadron in the spring of 2005 as part of its community outreach program and is cosponsored by the Greater Catonsville Chamber of Commerce and the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks. The drive is held at the squadron’s meeting location at the Bloomsbury Community Center in Catonsville, Md., a Baltimore County Recreation and Parks facility.

Fort McHenry Squadron blood drive staff included Chaplain (Maj) August “Gus” Peters, 1st Lt. Ki von der Linden, 1st Lt. Donald Ells, Capt. Gayle Hirst, 2nd Lt. Patrick McManus, Cadet Amn. Alexander Coleman, Cadet Basic Bronte Goldsmith, Cadet Amn. Alexandra Green, Cadet Staff Sgt. Zachery McManus, Cadet Amn. Ryan Payne, and Lt. Col. James Steinmeier.

Mr. Steve Willem, Regional Senior Account Representative for the American Red Cross, Chesapeake and Potomac Region, visited the blood drive to personally thank the members who volunteered to staff the drive. “It is the outstanding support that we are getting from the cadets and senior leadership of the Civil Air Patrol that is making this community blood drive a success,” said Willem. “Civil Air Patrol is to be congratulated for its continued support to the Red Cross and the community.”

The next Catonsville Community Blood Drive, is scheduled for Saturday 22 August 2009. To sign up to be a donor contact Major Barth at Catonsville.Blood.Drive@ftmchenrycap.org or call 301-518-0046. Walk-ins always welcome.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 90 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 66 years.

There are more than 1,400 members of CAP in Maryland. Last fiscal year wing members flew 42 search and rescue missions and were credited with 31 finds. For more information, visit www.mdcap.org.

The Fort McHenry Composite Squadron meets Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in Room 106 of the Bloomsbury Community Center, Catonsville, MD. For more information, please e-mail Douglas.Barth@ftmchenrycap.org or visit our website (including directions to our meeting location) at www.ftmchenrycap.org.