Fire Department

The Madison Fire Department, Madison Police Department, and American Red Cross teamed up once again to host the September 11 “Never Forget” Blood Drive.

This year’s event took place at Madison’s newest fire station, Fire Station 14. It kicked off with a Memorial Ceremony featuring the MFD and MPD Honor Guards, Fire Fighters Local 311 Pipes & Drums, and a moment of silence to pay respect to those who lost their lives on 9/11/01.

Each year, blood drive organizers have set out to get 100 blood donations, but we’ve never quite hit the mark. Last year we were very close, with 97 donations. Going into this year’s drive, we had over 60 registrations.

Thanks to last-minute appointments and a number of walk-in donors, we achieved a record-breaking 111 blood donations! 48 people who joined us were first-time donors.

“I almost thought we couldn’t do it,” said event co-organizer Lori Karst, an apparatus engineer at Fire Station 14. “This year, something different happened. We asked for more help, and it came. People came in, treats came in. Super community synergy!”

Many of the people who came waited over an hour to have their chance to make a difference through their blood donation. Some of the last-minute walk-ins may be thanks to NBC15 and News 3 Now, who helped get the word out on their morning shows.

The MFD and MPD would like to thank everybody who came out to donate blood. We’d also like to thank the following individuals and organizations for helping us make this happen:

American Red Cross Staff & Volunteers
Rosemarie Carberry (Drive Lead)
Courtney Brunson and Jean Kunert (Team Supervisors)
Roxie Berra (Account Manager)
Laura McGuire (External Communications Manager)
Christine Freedman
Nathashia N. Kirch
Michele Zindars
Sarah Fox

Madison Fire Department
Blood Drive co-chair Lori Karst
Madison Fire Department & Fire Fighters Local 311 Honor Guard
Fire Fighters Local 311 Pipes & Drums
‘A’ shift and ‘B’ shift crews at Fire Station 14
Tower 8 crews (‘A’ shift and ‘B’ shift)
Engine 3 and Medic 3
Medic 5A and Engine 12C
Lisa Van Buskirk (“DracuLisa”)

Madison Police Department
Blood Drive co-chair Michele Walker
Madison Police Department Honor Guard

Others
Perkins restaurant, which donated a large American flag for the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony
U.S. Navy Veteran Chris Manke

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