American Red Cross Recognizes Community Support

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MADISON, Wis. (Thursday, October 11, 2007) – Last night, the American Red Cross Badger Chapter and Badger-Hawkeye Blood Services Region joined together to recognize the high-level of community support for the organization at the first annual joint Celebration of Support. Community and business leaders from around the state attended the event to learn more about the Red Cross message and goals for the future. New President and CEO of the American Red Cross, Mark Everson, presented the evening’s key note speech.

In his speech, Everson discussed the need for the Red Cross to expand its capabilities in order to better meet the needs of the American public and to make the entire organization more efficient. “We epitomize the spirit of volunteerism,” Everson said. “The Red Cross is a proud, enduring American institution, but we need to make sure we stay relevant. We need to do more, and we are doing more, to serve our community.”

The Celebration of Support is an annual event held to recognize public support of the American Red Cross throughout the state of Wisconsin. This year’s event was generously sponsored by Verizon Wireless. Six awards were presented during the event to area individuals and businesses that support the Red Cross and exemplify the aim of the Red Cross.

The Badger-Hawkeye Blood Services Region recognized the following individuals and organizations: the Badger Chapter (One Red Cross Award) for their efforts to foster a relationship between the Chapter and Blood Services, Nancy Bierman and the Glen Haven Homemakers (Spirit of Annual Giving Award) for their work to support the Red Cross through organizing blood drives, and University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (Hospital Partnership Award) for its partnership with the American Red Cross in blood collection, public education and inventory management.

The Badger Chapter recognized the following individuals and organizations: Tom Osman (Risser Award) for his outstanding contributions to the Badger Chapter, Group Health Cooperative (Innovation Award) for its contribution to the BAT (basic aid training) program for elementary schools, and Katie Heiser (Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action) for saving a life at the McFarland High School swimming pool last winter.

About the Red Cross
The Madison, Wis.-based Badger-Hawkeye Region supplies blood products and specialized laboratory services to hospitals in eastern Iowa, Wisconsin, northern Illinois and upper Michigan. In a lifesaving partnership with approximately 90,000 volunteer blood donors, 1,500 volunteer blood drive coordinators and 480 employees, the Badger-Hawkeye Region organizes more than 4,500 blood drives in an effort to collect more than 160,000 pints of blood each year for patients in need. The Badger-Hawkeye Region is one of four regions that make up the Mid-America Division of the American Red Cross Blood Services.

The Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross benefits from the service of more than 600 active volunteers who serve residents of Dane, Crawford, Juneau, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland, and Sauk counties, and the Lake Mills area of Jefferson County. In Dane County alone, more than 500 volunteers, drivers and coordinators assist the American Red Cross Blood Services. Photos provided upon request. For more information about volunteer opportunities with the local Red Cross, please call 227-1289 or 1-877-618-6628, or visit the Badger Chapter website at www.arcbadger.org.

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