Muslims Use Blood Drive to Help & Raise Awareness

The Ahmaddiya Muslim Community held a blood drive, Sunday, at the Noblesville Public Library.  The goal was to collect 12,000 pints of blood and is part of an ongoing effort to honor the lives of the victims of 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombing.

"Whenever these acts of terrorism happen, people somehow get this idea that this is something inherently wrong with Islam," said organizer Muzaffar Ahmad.  ”Our focus is to remind everybody - American and everybody in general - that it’s not Islam.  It’s terrorists that are the problem and that is our message that we are repeating with these blood drives.”

The event was part of the third annual nationwide “Muslims for Life” blood drives that will be held through October 11th.

"Our hospitals need more than 500 bags of blood every single day.  So, this is a need that we have in the community and that’s why we are doing this campaign," said Ahmad,  "not only to portray a positive image of Islam, but also to meet a need that is very much visible in our society."

A second local drive will be September 29 in Indianapolis at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

"People are getting the message that Muslims are just like any other religious community.  They are trying to do their best to be good citizens, good human beings," said Ahmad.  "I think our campaign, our efforts are making a difference."