Preston Varozza’s journey of donating marrow began before he was born.

In 1989, his mother, Gwyn, signed up for the marrow donor registry in support of a leukemia patient in San Jose, California. Gwyn had hoped to be a match for someone ever since, and she encouraged her children to support the registry in other ways.

Kyle Varozza, Preston’s younger brother, answered the call when he dedicated his Eagle Scout project to educating and registering people on the Be The Match Registry. Preston joined the registry in support of his brother’s project, not expecting that he would be a match.

With blood donations over the next week projected to meet only about 50 percent of the need, the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC) is asking the community to help ensure that blood is available for patients.

“We’re working to avoid a situation that could force hospitals to postpone some blood transfusions, and that could leave our community vulnerable to larger trauma events that require multiple units of blood,” said Elizabeth Waltman, Chief Operating Officer of South Texas Blood & Tissue Center.

 “While blood use is up in our service area, donations have declined, especially over the past week,” she said. “As a result we’ve seen the amount of blood available on some days dip to as low as a half-day’s supply. We’ve reached out to other blood centers, but communities across the country continue to see blood shortages and are facing emergency appeals of their own.”