Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Firefighters and law enforcement officers from the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County help to bring in enough donors to exceed the Red Cross goal for December with a hard fought Battle of the Badges campaign.

The annual event helped the Central Plains region exceed its collection goal for the month of December by 9 percent. The blood will be used for hospital patients in need throughout Kansas and Northern Oklahoma.

Last year, the law enforcement officers won the battle by 24 points.
This year firefighters won with 774 votes. Law enforcement placed a close second with a total of 755 votes.

The goal for the Battle was 1,050 units of blood products during the two-week drive. The red Cross collected 1,190 units, including from 87 first-time donors.

A Red Cross spokeswoman says the need for blood is constant and the public is iurged to call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to make an appointment to donate.