Community members recently donated 233 pints of blood to Carter BloodCare for the Battle of the Badges Community Blood Drive — Weatherford fire versus police — to help with blood supply shortages.
The Weatherford Fire Department came out in the lead following the drive.
“It was a great year for Battle of the Badges. I believe we set a record on the total number of pints collected in the blood drive and that is the true objective in this ‘battle.’ Many people need to be recognized for their efforts. Ronn Hunn [Rotary Club] did an awesome job leading the group of organizers. Thanks to Rotary Club of Weatherford, Surepoint Emergency Center, South Main Church of Christ, Lakeshore Baptist Church, Golden Moon, Weatherford Democrat, Shep’s Place and North Side Baptist Church,” Weatherford Fire Chief Paul Rust said. “Also, special thanks to [Weatherford] Police Chief Lance Arnold. Chief Arnold has a passion to serve our community and he is a great friend. It is always fun to team up with him to promote a great cause for our community. Together we are committed to doing our part in building a strong community.”
The total number of pints per location were Surepoint Emergency Center, 14; South Main Church of Christ, 19; Lakeshore Baptist Church, 7; Golden Moon, 17; Weatherford Democrat, 10; Shep’s Place, 96; North Side Baptist Church, 56; and Carter BloodCare Center, 14.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Battle of the Badges blood drive. Never before have we had so much community support. This year topped all years with 233 pints donated. A special thank you to Chief Paul Rust and Chief Lance Arnold for rallying the troops and the community. To all our location sponsors, you did a great job. We intend to add more locations next year and shoot for over 300 points,” Ron Hunn with the Rotary Club of Weatherford said. “This blood drive and others are critical for the area wide blood supply. Most people do not realize that the demand for blood in this area is often more than 10,000 units per week. When blood is needed, patients need it now, and lots of it. The summer time is when the supplies get very low.”
Carter BloodCare Field Recruitment Consultant Colleen Horan said blood supply is always low in the summer months.
“This is due to the fact that we do not have large, high school blood drives happening. High school and colleges account for almost 30 percent of the total blood supply. This summer, we were especially low on blood, as was the entire country,” Horan said. “The Weatherford Battle of the Badges was a tremendous help in stabilizing the local blood supply. Ron and the chiefs outdid themselves this year by rallying so many people to come out and donate blood. They literally saved hundreds of lives in our community. Carter BloodCare and the patients we serve could not be more grateful.”
Arnold said the police department was grateful to participate in Battle of the Badges and help donate to the low blood supply crisis.
“Although the outcome did not favor the police department this year, it was great to see our mayor, city council, businesses, churches and our community members get behind such a great cause. The city did a great job of helping to advertise the event and the locations and the Rotary Club did an outstanding job, as always, of organizing and staffing the sites,” Weatherford Police Chief Lance Arnold said. “Our community members came through, as they often do, to really help our area with the low blood supplies. We, as a department, are grateful to be able to participate in such a worthy event.”