Blood Bank of Delmarva to host 20th annual 9/11 memorial blood drive

DOVER, De. — The Blood Bank of Delmarva is hosting its 20th annual 9/11 memorial blood drive at Dover Motor Speedway. This year, donors get to live out their NASCAR dreams.

The Blood Bank of Delmarva provides lifesaving blood products to over 1.5 million people and 19 hospitals on Delmarva, and for the past two decades, the non-profit has hosted a 9/11 memorial blood drive.

The Blood Bank of Delmarva’s Communication Specialist, Tony Prado, says the community plays a large part in the annual drive. “We all commemorate and observe 9/11 in our own way, but this is one that the community has a lot of buy in,” Prado said.

Each year, the drive is hosted by Dover Motor Speedway, allowing donors, employees, and volunteers from all over the Eastern Shore to commemorate the attacks. This year, participants get more than just a cookie in exchange for their blood donation, they get to drive around the speedway’s famous Monster Mile.

“It’s hard to find a better way to commemorate 9/11 than giving blood, which gives back to your community in a profound way,” said Prado.

For regular donors, giving blood means just offering 20 to 30 minutes of their day to help someone in need. Katie Joudrey, a regular donor at the Blood Bank of Delmarva, says she enjoys helping those in need.

“I am O negative, so, anyone can use my blood, and I feel that if you have 20 minutes of your day and you’re a good candidate, why not,” Joudrey said.

After declaring a blood emergency in July, which was lifted 3 weeks later, the Blood Bank of Delmarva hopes to see the community show up for the cause.

“The reason why we issued that blood emergency is that key blood types like O positive, O negative, and B negative were down to a one- or two-day supply,” Prado said.

Want to give back to the community? The drive will be hosted at 99 Plaza Drive in Dover, Delaware from 9 AM to 4 PM.