Record amount donated at Red Cross Club blood drive

EDiTeD By BiLL SaNserViNO

Robbinsville High School’s Red Cross Club collected 51 units of donated blood from community members in February, one of the largest totals in recent years.

“This is the biggest number I’ve seen since becoming the club’s adviser,” said teacher Sue

Kanagawa, who began advising the club in 2017. “It’s amazing to see such community support for this important project.”

To put this year’s number in perspective, the club collected 47 units of blood in 2022, 25 units of blood in 2020, and 23 units of blood in 2019. A blood drive was not held in 2021 because of COVID-19.

Each unit of blood can be used by up to three patients, meaning this year’s donations could help as many as 153 individuals, according to the American Red Cross New Jersey Region.

Robbinsville’s Red Cross Club is one of the largest student organizations at the high school with

In addition, Robbinsville experienced a situation where ballots were lost, and another in which about 6% of township voters were disenfranchised.

Those voters received letters weeks after the election informing them that their votes did not count. The letter, which came from the County Board of Elections said: “Unfortunately, your provisional ballot was not counted for the following reason: Voted by Machine.”

The disenfranchised voters apparently signed in at their polling stations with the intention of voting on the machine, but were given a provisional ballot because the machine scanners were not processing the ballots.

The election “was plagued by many issues, including poor communication from the offices of the superintendent and deputy superintendent of elections and malfunctioning voting machines that created a chaotic atmosphere for voters, poll workers and election officials,” states the council resolution.

The measure also maintains that, “clear information has not been forthcoming from either the Mercer County Board of Elections or the Mercer County Superintendent of Elections, with each office avoiding accountability and casting blame on the other for the mishaps during and after the 2022 General Election.”

According to the resolution, the township council and the mayor are united in calling for the Board of Commissioners to eliminate the superintendent and deputy superintendent positions “to help streamline Mercer County’s election processes and ensure accountability from Mercer County’s election officials.”

In addition to the resolution, Council Vice President Mike Todd called for changes during a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners earlier this year.

““Something needs to change,” Todd said. “Training for poll work-

See ELECTIONS, Page 14