Thoracic/Vascular Division Went above and beyond to Help Save Many Lives

A "blood donation challenge" is a friendly competition between two or more groups with the goal of seeing who can get more people to donate blood within a specified time frame. These challenges are a great way to fill the never-ending need for blood.

Since 2013, the Thoracic/Vascular Division Blood Donation Challenge has always had strong participation, but this year, the teams involved have gone above and beyond, nearly doubling the number of donations from last year. With all of the teams’ participation combined, there was a total of 154 donors. The competition remained very close throughout the three-month duration. In the end, Team 1–Francis 5C secured the winning title with 101 blood donations, which equates to 136% participation.

Team Leader Wesley Nigon shares, “Francis 5C had a lot riding on this competition, as it aimed to win its fifth consecutive annual challenge within the Thoracic/Vascular Division. Thank you to all the competing teams and donors. Francis 5C’s secret to success this year was fun weekly reminders that highlighted the impact of donating blood for our patients, and also, Georgette Pierce and other Francis 5C team members helped rally and cheer us on for another victory. We really enjoy the team camaraderie that this creates when we all encourage each other for such a good cause. We have already been 'warned' that we will have competition for next year, and we are looking forward to the challenge and hopefully a sixth consecutive victory.”

A very special "thank you" goes out to the Thoracic/Vascular Division for hosting such a successful blood donation challenge, ultimately helping to save many, many lives.

Get Involved
If your organization or work unit is interested in having a Blood Donation Challenge, contact Blood Donor Recruitment Coordinators Kim Schmidt at (507) 266-2382 and Jackie O'Reilly at (507) 284-9831.