Bleed Red and See Green for Charity Rotary one of 63 in Hoxworth Drive
Date posted: February 12, 2013
When Chris Adams walked into the Hoxworth Blood Center, the first thing he said was “Rotary Foundation.”
Adams, of Terrace Park, wasn’t lost. He was donating blood in the Hoxworth Bleed for a Cause effort that will award $10,000 to the agency that pulls in the most donors in its name.
“When you donate for the Rotary Foundation, you are helping three agencies – Stepping Stones, the Autism Society and the Down Syndrome Association,” said Adams, who is executive director of Stepping Stones, which serves children and adults with disabilities, and also a Cincinnati Rotary member.
The Rotary Foundation of Cincinnati is part of a special fund raising effort to support those three agencies through its Believe 2 Achieve auction and dinner event on June 8. Last year that event split close to $50,000 among the three agencies. “We want to add the Bleed for Cause prize money to that donation in 2013,” said Adams. “If you give blood in February in the name of the Rotary Foundation, you are helping three great organizations serve children from across Greater Cincinnati.”
Adams brought a sign with him to remember to “Say Rotary Foundation” and write Rotary Foundation on the blood donor form. “I’m donating for Stepping Stones and also for the Autism Society and the Down Syndrome Association,” said Adams. “But those names aren’t in the competition. To help them, you have to say Rotary Foundation.”
Hoxworth Blood Center’s Bleed for a Cause event runs through February. Sixty three charities are working to rally donors in their name. “Everybody wins with this,” said Adams, who is a regular blood donor.
February is a key need month, because many regular blood donors are out of town over the winter, said Alicia Lipton of Hoxworth Blood Center.
Hoxworth works to ensure there is an adequate blood supply for patients served by 31 area hospitals. It takes 350 volunteer blood donors and 40 volunteer platelet donors a day to meet that need.
The Bleed for a Cause competition is funded by Montgomery Inn and Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America. The charity that earns the most point through February blood donors will win $10,000. Second and third place awards are $5,000 and $2,500.
The competition runs Feb. 1 through Feb. 28. To donate, go to one of the Hoxworth Blood Center’s eight neighborhood donor centers (see www.hoxworth.org for locations and to make a reservation). It usually takes less than an hour to donate blood from the time you walk in the door, and it saves lives, said Lipton. In February, it can also help local charities serve more people.
