By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
Hillsborough police officers are constantly called on to serve the public, but now they are asking residents to give a little back to help one of the department’s own.
The PBA Local 205 in conjunction with the Hillsborough Rescue Squad, will hold a blood drive Tuesday for Officer David Wilson, a five-year veteran of the department who is currently in the hospital battling leukemia.
”We are seeing how we can help him,” Ted Lewis, president of the PBA, said. “We will help the blood banks, and that will help others too.”
The blood drive will benefit the New Jersey/New York Blood Services, and will be held Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room in the municipal building.
Mr. Lewis said Officer Wilson was diagnosed with the disease a couple months ago, and the department is working to do what it can to help him, both health-wise and monetarily.
In the future, Mr. Lewis said, the department is planning to host fundraising events on his behalf, but they have not yet finalized any plans.
”He is going through treatments, but it’s still a long battle,” Mr. Lewis said. “For leukemia, he will need blood transfusions. And cancer treatments are very costly.”
The screenings and donations at the blood drive will be free, and refreshments will be provided to those who donate.
Blood donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health, according to the New Jersey/New York Blood Services Web site. The site also says those over 75 years of age can donate blood if they meet all donor criteria and have a physician’s letter of approval.
Among other medical conditions cited, those with the flu or a cold must wait to donate until symptoms have subsided and the sufferer is symptom-free for three days. For more information, check the Web site at nybloodcenter.org.
Mr. Lewis said that in the 13 years he has been with the department, it has never held an event to benefit a particular officer because they have been fortunate not to have a colleague receive this type of diagnosis. Now, he said, they just want to help out.
Mr. Lewis said the goal of the blood drive is simply to help a fellow officer who has been very valuable to the department. He said many of the officers have already asked how they can help Officer Wilson, as have members of the community as a whole.
”Officer Wilson is one of the finest people you’ll ever meet, not only as an officer, but as a person,” Mr. Lewis said. “We want to do anything that will benefit him.”

