Local Officer Wants Thursday Blood Drive to Raise Awareness

Inspired by his father's fight against cancer, Lt. Mike Ciszek is helping to raise awareness about the need cancer patients have for blood donations by co-organizing a blood drive.

Often times, it takes a new experience to spark awareness of something you never had before, said Claremont Police Lt. Mike Ciszek said.
Over the course of the year, while watching his father undergo treatment for cancer, the lieutenant says he and his family became very aware of the need for blood.

“Cancer was always a word that if you don’t have anybody who is affected by it doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot because it does not impact your life,” Ciszek said.

And the thought crossed his mind, how many others do not know about the need for blood. The realization spurred action. The Ciszek’s, with the support of family and friends in Claremont and surrounding cities, are hosting a blood drive to benefit the Cedar’s Sinai Medical Center Blood Bank.
Nurses and staffers with that hospital’s blood bank will set up inside Taylor Hall, 1717 N. Indian Hill, which is next to Claremont High School. Donors will be given a questionnaire as part of the procedure.
Donations will go to patients being treated at the facility. But more importantly, Ciszek hopes the blood drive will wake people up to the reality a lot of cancer patients face, he said.
His father, Walter Ciszek, a retired captain with Upland Police, successfully battled a first bout with cancer several years back. No blood was needed then, his son said.
But it returned this year with more ferocity and now, the family watches as he and other patients deal with regular blood transfusions or the need for platelets.
“We see with my father what a difference there is before and after,” Mike Ciszek said. His energy returns as does the color to his face, he said.
It’s life saving, Ciszek said. And there are dozens of people who need this that life saving blood everday, he emphasized.
“It would be great to see people come out like they did after 9-11,” he said. “They were lined up. But many people only come out after a disaster.
Anyone interested in donating blood is welcome to visit Taylor Hall from noon to 5:30 Thursday, Aug. 1. For more information, visit Keeping the GOOD in Our Neighborhood's Facebook page.