About 50 people signed up to give blood on Sunday, Asatryan said. The donated blood will be given to area hospitals, she added.
Phlebotomists from the Red Cross set up a makeshift clinic in the church’s basement and drew one pint of blood from each donor.
Glendale resident Masis Avartzairian lay with his arm extended as a phlebotomist wrapped it with a bandage after he gave blood.
“I gave it to donate to someone who needs it,” Avartzairian said. “I think there are people who really need it.”
Avartzairian gave blood every three months in his native Iran, he said, adding that it was the first time he had donated blood since coming to the United States.
Red Cross charge nurse Viola Patak and her crew gave snacks and refreshments to donors.
“What other better way can you remember a loved one and give back to the community?” Patak said. “It’s the best way to honor someone.”
Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian also participated in the blood drive on Sunday. Kassakhian, who had never given blood before, was nervous but looked forward to doing his part to help the cause.
“Our legacy is to live our lives as a testimonial of the shattered lives,” Kassakhian said. “We are paying it forward, in other words.”
Other blood donors, including 18-year-old Dika Karakashian of Glendale, were also nervous about donating.
“They are giving blood for the people who lost their lives, and in a way it’s for a good cause,” she said.
Karakashian talked her friend, Andy Ter-Nersesian, 18, into also giving blood.
Ter-Nersesian said donating his blood in conjunction with the Week of Remembrance activities was symbolic.
“It’s symbolic in that people lost their lives during genocide, and we are saving lives,” he said.
