By MERI R. KENNEDY Katie Lavey of Cranston did not get to graduate from Cranston High School East. She passed away in 2005, at the age of 16, after a routine surgery. It was a shock to the entire family and to the Park View Middle School and Cranston
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Katie Lavey of Cranston did not get to graduate from Cranston High School East. She passed away in 2005, at the age of 16, after a routine surgery.
It was a shock to the entire family and to the Park View Middle School and Cranston East communities.
Honoring Katie’s memory has been a mission of her mother, Laurie Lavey. Last week, the 14th annual Katie Lavey Memorial Blood Drive was held in the gym Park View Middle School last week.
Renelda Maurice-Simmons, account manager with the Rhode Island Blood Center, said over the years – starting with the first drive in Katie’s memory on June 8, 2006, through the 2018 event – the annual drive has collected 488 pints of blood from 579 people who showed up to donate.
At this year’s drive, the 500th pint of blood was donated in Katie’s honor. Together, the donations have helped more than 1,500 patients in need of blood transfusions.
The 500th donor was Kristine Field, who is a family friend of the Lavey family and the school nurse at Cranston East High School.
All presenting donors at the blood drive received a T-shirt from the Rhode Island Blood Center.
For more information, call the Rhode Island Blood Center at 453-8307. To schedule a donation appointment in Katie’s honor, use the sponsor code 1236.
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