Vitalant South hosts ‘Battle of the Badges’ blood drive in Tupelo

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – It was a friendly competition among first responders to help recruit blood donors.

Vitalant South hosted the “Battle of the Badges”. Tupelo Police, the Tupelo Fire Department, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office took part in the competition.

Blood donation centers were set up at the police department’s community room and the Vitalant Bus was at the sheriff’s office. Donors let the technicians know which agency they were representing.

A Vitalant account manager said the area’s blood supply is at a critical level.

“With the latest tornadoes, we had to cancel a lot of blood drives, that has also had an impact so everybody is trying to step up and do what they can to help right now,” said Mandy Stanton, Vitalant.

The results will be tallied and the agency that recruited the most donors will get a trophy. Remember, for information on how to become a blood donor, go to vitalant.org

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