Local Auto Repair Shop to Host Blood Drive Saturday

This is just another one of those small stories that goes to the very heart of what makes Emmaus, Emmaus.

It’s about a business owner named Ali Rizvi who saw a need and decided to try to fill it.

Rizvi owns , located at 945 Chestnut St. in Emmaus. He has owned the Emmaus auto repair shop for the past three years – it was previously Jim’s Chestnut Street Station.

The Emmaus location is Rizvi’s second Safari storefront. His original place of business is in Allentown at 750 N. Fenwick St., near Coca-Cola Park.

But this story is about Emmaus.

Safari Automotive in Emmaus will be the site of a community blood drive on Saturday, July 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The drive will be run by Miller-Keystone Blood Center, the sole supplier of blood in the Lehigh Valley.

The reason for the blood drive is simple, according to Rizvi. “Miller-Keystone has been advertising that they are very low on blood now,” he says.

The reason for holding the blood drive in Emmaus is simple too. “My customers, the people in Emmaus, they are such nice people,” he says. “They are so giving and charitable. I thought that if we were to have a blood drive they would come in and sign up to donate.”

And, they did.

Walk-in donors are also welcome. For general information on blood donation, visit www.giveapint.org.