Blood Assurance and the Lookouts are partnering to compete against Medic Regional Blood Center and the Tennessee Smokies in a week-long competition to see who can get the most blood donors.
The competition will start on Monday and the last day will be July 31. All donors in the Chattanooga, Cleveland, Fort Oglethorpe and Dalton areas will receive one ticket to see the Chattanooga Lookouts play the Tennessee Smokies.
"Summer is a difficult time for blood banks across the country due to travel and increased usage, and Blood Assurance has been in critical and urgent need of several blood types for weeks," officials said. "Blood Assurance is still not seeing the number of donors it saw before the pandemic, and that, combined with the typical decrease of donations during summer months, has led to a critical need for donors. Many people do not donate in the summer months due to vacations and holiday traveling. Schools are also out during these months, which means there are no school blood drives."
“At the Lookouts we believe in the importance of giving back to our community,” said Lookouts President Rich Mozingo. “We continue to receive tremendous support from the greater Chattanooga area this season and are excited to partner with Blood Assurance in support of this great cause.”
Blood Assurance or MEDIC will win a trophy and bragging rights depending on which blood center collects more units during that week in its area. All donors during this week will also be entered to win a YETI cooler.
Blood donors who would like to make an appointment or find a drive or center can visit bloodassurance.org/schedule, call 800-962-0628, or text BAGIVE to 999777.
To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old (or 16 with parental consent) weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good health. Donors are asked to drink plenty of fluids, avoid caffeine and eat a meal that is rich in iron prior to donating.