Battle of the Badges community blood drive held at WVU

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Firefighters and police officers in Morgantown held a “Battle of the Badges” on Tuesday with the goal of encouraging the community to donate blood.

The drive was held at the Erickson Alumni Center on WVU’s campus and was a collaboration between the American Red Cross, Morgantown Firefighters IAFF Local 313 and WV Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #87 .

IAFF Local 313’s Secretary-Treasurer Dan Horbachewski said that the purpose behind the event is “just to kind of have a friendly competition…to raise blood and help address the national blood shortage.”

According to Horbachewski, there’s typically a blood shortage during the summer months, and this one is partly due to heat waves, which can cause blood drive shortages across the country. He added that natural disasters such as hurricane season can also be an obstacle.

Horbachewski says that donors have been decreasing over the years, which has caused the need for blood to spike. “Between the firefighters and police officers—you know, we’re all members of the community. So, we wanna help whatever what we can do,” he added.

Horbachewski told 12 News that the goal was to raise at least 66 units of blood during this six-hour drive. Organizers were able to keep track of blood collections through a chart, where members of the IAFF Local 313 and FOP #87 could place a droplet of blood after donating.

There were no prizes for the winner of this competition, but Horbachewski said that the competitors faced off for “bragging rights.”

This is the first Battle of the Badges event to take place in Morgantown, but Horbachewski said that it’s a national program that the American Cross holds annually. He added that event organizers are hoping to hold this blood drive again in the coming years.

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