Municipal leaders of Dover, Durham and Newmarket have challenged each other in a friendly competition to see which of the three communities can donate the most blood to help shore up blood reserves for the American Red Cross.
Dover's blood drive will be held Wednesday, May 25, from 12 to 5 p.m. in the McConnell Center. Schedule a time to donate at https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=DOVERWINS.
Dover City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr., met with Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig and Newmarket Town Manager Steve Fournier at Durham Town Hall on April 20 to kick off the campaign. They were joined by American Red Cross Northern New England Regional Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Couturier. The three leaders made a friendly bet that they would go out to lunch at the end of the contest, and the leader of the winning community would have his lunch paid for by the other two.
In addition to the lunch wager, the American Red Cross will raffle three prizes at each of the three blood donations with the first prize of $250, second prize of $100 and third prize of $50. Everyone who donates will be automatically entered into the raffle.
Given difficult times for the American Red Cross in raising blood during the pandemic, these drives in Dover, Durham, and Newmarket are even more vital now than when the contest was initially envisioned last fall. The American Red Cross declared its first-ever blood crisis in January, forcing doctors to decide which patients in need of blood would get it first and who would have to wait for additional supplies. Since January, the blood supply shortage has eased; however, the American Red Cross says blood supply remains vulnerable.
Joyal urges eligible donors to become regular donors.
"A blood donation is a simple, life-saving gesture that helps ensure that supplies are available when our family, friends, neighbors or strangers need it most," Joyal said. "This friendly competition between our communities seeks to encourage more people to donate blood and help boost vulnerable supplies, and while I'm confident that Dover will be victorious, increasing blood reserves is the real goal. I encourage eligible donors in any community to roll up their sleeves and join the cause."
American Red Cross will determine the winner by calibrating which municipality gets the best "capacity utilization" on the day of blood donations. Capacity utilization means that if a city/town's target collection amount set by American Red Cross in advance was X units, and it collected X units, it achieved 100% capacity utilization. If it collects less than X units, then that percentage is what will be used in comparisons. The American Red Cross is the judge and the jury to determine which community is the winner.
Preregistration is required. Schedule a time to donate at https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=DOVERWINS. For eligibility requirements, click here. First-time donor? Click here to find out what to expect.
Dover, Durham and Newmarket have previously engaged in friendly challenges in 2010 and 2020, competing to see which community had the best census response rate. In those competitions, municipal leaders of the losing communities would wash the fire truck of the winning community. Newmarket won in 2010, and Dover won in 2020.
American Red Cross of Northern New England CEO Stephanie Couturier, left, joins Dover City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr., Newmarket Town Manager Steve Fournier, and Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig at Durham Town Hall on April 20. Joyal, Fournier and Selig are betting that their community will donate the most blood during a blood drive in May.
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