Muslims for Life Blood Drives

Blood drives in remembrance of 9/11 victims are taking place across the country as the 10th anniversary of the attack approaches.

While most blood drives last a day, a Muslim organization has coordinated a month-long campaign to collect 10,000 pints. One pint can save up to three lives.

With about 70 mosques around the county, including Milpitas, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and institutions of other faiths have organized about 220 locations—from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to San Jose.

In the Bay Area, appointments are available through the American Red Cross in downtown San Jose, Newark, Oakland and Pleasanton. To register online, just search under sponsor code CODERED. Using the code, your donation will be credited toward the 10,000 goal that the Muslims for Life campaign hopes to reach. 

Local Drive at the Baitul Baseer Mosque

On Sunday, blood bank staff and mosque volunteers transformed the  in Milpitas into a donation site. Beds were laid out, and medical equipment, consultation booths and a portable cabinet full of snacks were brought in. A bowl of tiny American flag pins sat on a folding table.

About 65 individuals had registered online, but with walk-ins, they expected to see 70-80 people, said Wendy Theisen, a spokeswoman for the Blood Centers of the Pacific.

The majority of donors, an estimated 80 percent, were members of the mosque, said Sabuhi Siddique, public service secretary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and vice chairwoman of the Santa Clara County's Human Relations Commission.

Patti Searle of Campbell was one of several non-Muslims who donated Sunday. Since 9/11, she said, she had sought ways to understand the "mainstream" Muslim community, including attending the open house iftar dinner during Ramadan.

"We hear so many bad things about Muslims," she said. "It's mostly extremists that do bad things, but get all the press. Those are the ones that you keep hearing about."

National Outreach by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Mayors from all over, including Jose Esteves of Milpitas, have shown their support for the blood drive. 

"This is more than giving blood," Esteves said, while visiting the mosque in Milpitas. "It's a demonstration of oneness."

The concept behind Muslims for Life came from a desire to promote peace and understanding after 9/11. Naseem Mahdi, national vice president and missionary in-charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said he came up with idea while he was in Canada at the time of the attacks.

"So when I saw this heinous crime against humanity, I was in state of shock," he said. "My thought was if this had been done by so-called Muslims, this would be a bad day for us and Islam. Unfortunately, this was a bad intro to Islam by people who had no authority to use the word Islam."

Other houses of worship, such as churches and synagogues, plan to host blood drives as part of Muslims for Life, said Mahdi.

Mahdi himself had the opportunity tell President Obama about the blood drives when he was invited to the annual iftar dinner at the White House.

"He came to our table, and I had 2½-3 minutes for a one-on-one, " said Mahdi. "He commended our efforts, 'This is very timely what you are doing.' So we had encouragement from president of the USA."

With 16,000 letters sent out to officials at the local, state and federal levels, and about 220 locations lined up, donors now just need to volunteer.

With two blood drives on Capitol Hill, one Wednesday at the Rayburn House Office Building and another Friday at the Cannon House Office Building, Mahdi said he hopes the president will donate, too.

"I have invited the president to come to one of these blood drives to show his support and solidarity with us," he said.

For more information, visit muslimsforlife.org.