Breckenridge Rotary Club’s annual Battle of the Badges Blood Drive scheduled for June 2-4
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
Next month, the Rotary Club of Breckenridge will host the sixth annual Battle of the Badges Blood Drive, a friendly competition that pits the Breckenridge Police Department, Breckenridge Fire Department and the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office against each other. The winner gets a plaque and bragging rights.
Everyone who donates in the Breckenridge Rotary Club’s Battle of the Badges Blood Drive will receive a t-shirt. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
The blood drive, co-hosted by Carter BloodCare, will be held June 2-4. On Thursday, June 2, the blood drive will be from noon to 5 p.m. at First National Bank; on Friday, June 3, it will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Stephens Memorial Hospital; and, on Saturday, June 4, it will be from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at First National Bank.
On Tuesday, May 10, Colleen Horan and Ruben Tafoya with Carter BloodCare attended the local Rotary Club meeting to kick off the campaign.
During the blood drive, those who are donating blood can vote for one of the three emergency service agencies. In the past five years, the BFD won the Battle of the Badges three times, and the BPD and the Sheriff’s Office have each won once, Horan said.
Horan said Carter BloodCare tries to schedule their Battle of the Badges blood drives during the summer because there is a greater need to blood donations then. During the school year, many high schools host blood drives, and those blood drives provide them with the greatest amount of blood. Without the donations from the high schools during the summer, the blood supply tends to drop.
The blood that is donated is taken to a lab where it is separated into three components, red cells, platelets and plasma. Every day, across the United States, 42,000 of those components are used. Horan said about 25 percent of blood products go to cancer patients.
“Please come and donate if you’re eligible,” she said. “And if you’re not eligible, recruit a family member or friend or somebody to come to one of these blood drives. We really need to help them in the summer, and we appreciate your support.”
To reserve a spot at one of the blood drives, click here to visit the Carter BloodCare website. Then, put “76424” in the Zip Code spot and click the “Search” button. Then, choose from the three dates of the Battle of the Badges Blood Drive and pick the time you’d like. For more information, call Les or Sherry Strickland at 254-522-1959.
Cutline, top photo: On hand to kick off the Rotary Club of Breckenridge’s Battle of the Badges Blood Drive campaign on Tuesday were Breckenridge Police Chief Bacel Cantrell, Colleen Horan with Carter BloodCare, Stephens County Chief Deputy Justin Rose, Ruben Tafoya with Carter BloodCare, Stephens County Sheriff Kevin Roach, Breckenridge Fire Department Captain Jose Garcia and firefighters Wesley Turner and Ben Rotman. This year’s Battle of the Badges will take place June 2-4. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
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