Sangamon County
September 14 , 2011
All for a good cause
Fire service receives top honors for Central Illinois Community Blood Center’s Badges for Life competition
Central Illinois Community Blood Center’s 11th annual Badges for Life competition wraps up with the announcement of the fire service as winner of the 2011 competition.
The competition, which kicked off just before Memorial Day, encourages local fire service and law enforcement officials to compete for the highest number of blood donations compared to their number of employees.
With donations equaling 51.15 percent of their employees, the fire service (Office of the State Fire Marshal and Springfield Fire Department) once again receives top honors for the Badges for Life competition. Law enforcement (Illinois State Police, Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, Springfield Police Department and the Illinois Division of the FBI) came in with 32.90 percent participation. Overall, there were 540 blood donations and 20 new blood donors during the competition.
Nationally, about 40 percent of U.S. residents are eligible to donate, but fewer than 10 percent actually give blood. The additional donations came at an important time, as the Blood Center sees its donation rate decline during the summer months. Central Illinois Community Blood Center provides blood and blood products to 12 central Illinois hospitals, including Memorial Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.
All in good fun, and to help encourage donations, when the competition began in May it was decided that this year the losing service would take a pie to the face. In years past, the winning service has pied the face of its own department leader.
“Thank you to everyone who donated during the 2011 Badges for Life competition,” said Tara Matheson, manager, donor relations at Central Illinois Community Blood Center. “We especially would like to thank the fire service and law enforcement for their dedicated support of this competition. As emergency responders, they witness and understand the importance of having blood available for when it is needed. We cannot thank them enough for all that they do.”
“We would also like to thank Bakers Square for their continued generosity and support,” said Mindy Melton, donor relations consultant at Central Illinois Community Blood Center. “Each year they not only provide delicious pies for throwing during Badges for Life, but they also continually support our mission by helping us thank donors for their life-saving donations.”
During the 2010 competition, the fire service (Springfield Fire Department and Office of the State Fire Marshal) took top honors with donations equaling 31.08 percent of their employees, compared to 24.47 percent of employees from law enforcement (Illinois State Police, Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, Springfield Police Department and the Springfield Illinois Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation).
For more information, call CICBC at (217) 753-1530 or visit www.cicbc.org. To schedule an appointment to donate, or to find an area blood drive, visit www.bloodcenterIMPACT.org. Walks-ins are always welcome.
Central Illinois Community Blood Center, a not-for-profit organization, is the provider of life-saving blood for 12 hospitals throughout central Illinois, including Memorial Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. A division of Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC), Central Illinois Community Blood Center and MVRBC collect 165,000 units of blood annually and serve a total of 75 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.
