Leyden teacher honored by Vitalant blood services

Joe Ruffolo, a physics teacher at the West campus, was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Vitalant, a not-for-profit community blood provider service. Ruffolo was recognized in mid-December at the organization's Honors Luncheon.

Ruffolo, who has been a teacher at Leyden for 29 years, became involved with sponsoring school blood drives 27 years ago. He coordinates two blood drives a years at the West campus for a total of 54 drives during his nearly 30 years of service.

"On the average, Joe collects 280 donations per year," says Vitalant Recruitment Representative Ezekiel Trevino. "During his career he has helped collect 7,280 blood donations, and is responsible for helping save 21,840 lives. He builds a great recruitment strategy as he educates his student volunteers on the importance of blood donation."

The award for the Blood Program Chairperson of the Year goes to the person who has true enthusiasm for the blood recruitment program, says Holly Seese, a marketing and communications spokesperson for Vitalant.

"This person goes beyond the 12 week plan and brings fresh ideas and a passion for recruiting to their work. When we reviewed Zeke's (Trevino) description of Joe Ruffolo, we knew he deserved much more than just our yearly award. So we decided unanimously to create a Lifetime Achievement Award to honor him," Seese recalls.

Ruffolo says he is "honored and humbled" by the award, but adds that the kudos go to the volunteers. "Students volunteers have been very successful recruiting donors, and the faculty and staff at West have always responded by supporting the drive and donating blood."

Vitalant has 127 donation centers nationwide, and more than 30,000 mobile blood drives a year. According to its website, the organization works to advance the experience, practice, application and distribution of blood collection.