St. George’s Vet Hospital Holds Blood Drive for Beloved Veterinarian

On April 21, The St. Georges Veterinary Hospital along with Central Jersey Blood Center held a blood drive to benefit Dr. Les Smith of the group who is suffering from Cancer.

David Brook, a friend of Smith’s since middle school, helped coordinate the drive and said the response was tremendous.

“The drive collected 41 pints of blood in the five hours that it ran and many animal lovers as well as friends and family donated,” he told Patch.

Smith has saved the lives of so many people’s pets, Brooks said, so to see the amount of people who came out to support Smith in his time of need truly showed the impact he had made in their lives.

“It was very heartwarming to see the turnout,” Brook said.

Between 20 to 30 other donors had to be turned away on the 21st because the drive was not expecting such a turn out and could not accommodate them.

Smith’s wife Patty said that Les is not the kind of person who likes things done for him, but he did it knowing that the rest of the blood would go to blood bank.

Les Smith had spent over 30 years as a veterinarian at St. George’s Veterinarian Hospital and now often needs blood transfusions due to his cancer.

“It just shows how amazing he is,” Patty said. “How much his clients, friends and co-workers love him.”

The blood drive was also a huge success thanks to Pizza Time, who allowed them to set up in the parking lot and provided donors with pizza and a soft drink.  Brook thanked owner Ciro “Gino” DiTunnariello and manager Carlos for helping out during the event.

When Dr. Friedman of the St. George’s Veterinarian Hospital went to settle the bill, the business did not let him pay for anything.

Brook and Patty Smith said they could not thank the business enough for their donations.

Patty also acknowledged the friendship between Brook and Les and stated, “he’s such a wonderful friend to have.”

A continuation of the blood drive was held on April 26 in Westfield to hopefully accommodate those who were unable to donate the first time around.