Marc Satalof, a former Philly school teacher living in Upper Gwynedd, is retiring from the donating blood business after giving 35 gallons over more than 50 years, writes Tom Avril for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Satalof, 76, first donated blood when his mother had surgery at Penn Medicine more than 50 years ago. While she didn’t need any blood transfusions, he decided to continue being a blood donor.

He said it was an easy way to help others, but after talking with his doctor, he decided it was time to pass the baton on to others.

As we age, our hemoglobin levels decrease. Satalof takes iron pills, but he and his primary care physician at Penn Medicine Radnor decided it was time for him to call it quits.

Over the years, he has donated in schools, community centers, synagogues, and bloodmobiles. Satalof, a teacher and principal in the Philadelphia School District, likes to joke that his blood type A-positive is like a report card grade.

“I am A-plus. I’ve donated just about everywhere there is. Even buses.”

Earlier this week he gave his 280th and final pint of blood at an American Red Cross drive at Penn’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.

Read more about Upper Gwynedd’s Marc Satalof and the importance of blood donation in The Philadelphia Inquirer

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