Donating blood still a good choice

Some may be surprised that the Blood Bank of Hawaii sells the blood its donors provide free of charge to local hospitals ("Isle donors’ blood sold to hospitals," Star-Advertiser, May 11).

Such surprise is understandable. The Blood Bank has carefully projected an image of itself as a nonprofit dedicated to helping save lives, in virtuous partnership with its donors. That it had a "surprisingly good year" in 2013 — with revenues of nearly $21 million, according to Kim-Ahn Nguyen, president of the Blood Bank — is the kind of information that doesn’t make the press releases.

Even so, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for donors. The money keeps the complex and necessary service operating, and it’s still always true that blood donations save lives — and there’s no price to be put on that.

Police deserve our appreciation

Just because the occasional bad incident forces a harsh spotlight on police conduct shouldn’t mean that citizens stop appreciating the honorable work that most officers do.

After all, police officers are trained and sworn to uphold our laws, and it can be a very dangerous world out there.

And so, on this National Police Week, it’s fitting that folks take a pause to recognize our men and women in blue charged with maintaining our public safety.

On Monday, a special candlelight tribute was paid to the 47 Honolulu officers who have died in the line of duty — a somber reminder of the high cost of upholding law and order.