FITCHBURG � As the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings approaches, Furqan Q. Mehmud said he and others wanted to help make a difference and let other people know there are good Muslims out there.

They are doing it by giving their blood.

Mr. Mehmud, 31, is from Fitchburg and is the regional youth leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslims chapters in Fitchburg, Boston, Hartford and Albany, N.Y. His father, Bashir U. Mehmud, is president of the Fitchburg chapter for the international Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

The younger Mehmud said he felt compelled to organize a group to attend the Muslims for Life blood drive Friday at City Hall Plaza in Boston in honor of the bombing victims. A Muslim service was also held.

The drive was organized in partnership with the city of Boston and the Boston Athletic Association and will benefit patients at Boston Children's Hospital and the Kraft Family Blood Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Mr. Mehmud said Muslims for Life was created by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The organization began organizing blood drives across the country to honor the victims and to promote the "sanctity of life," he said.

"It is important for us to voice our opinion and let others know we support America and we are with America," Mr. Mehmud said. "We are different from other Muslims. We don't support any of this terrorism."

The Fitchburg chapter participates in several blood drives a year, he said. Since its inception, Muslims for Life has collected more than 11,000 blood bags nationwide, he said.

Sultan Akbar Ahmed from Leominster, who is the local youth leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Fitchburg chapter, traveled to Boston Friday for the event. About 25 Ahmadiyya Muslims from the region were there, he said.

"We are promoting saving lives," the 32-year-old paralegal said. "We're getting our name out there and letting people know we are a peaceful bunch."

The Fitchburg chapter also partners with the Elks Lodge in Leominster once a month for a blood drive, he said.

Shortly after the marathon bombings, at the Ahmadiyya mosque on Main Street in Fitchburg, Bashir Mehmud and his wife Farida Mehmud � who moved to the United States in 1977 from their native Pakistan � said the Ahmadis were mourning and calling for unity against extremism.

"American Muslims mourn for the Boston Marathon victims and the Muslim community condemns the bombings and calls for unity against extremism," the 70-year-old president of the Fitchburg chapter said. "(We) express our most heartfelt sentiments to the victims and families and to those affected by the bombings in Boston and pray that God Almighty gives them patience, comfort and strength during this time of immense struggle."

The first-year anniversary of the bombings is Tuesday.

Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG.