Every drop counts in a blood drive.
On Tuesday, a special drive was conducted at Seymour City Hall in memory of former Seymour Mayor John Burkhart, who passed away in December at age 80.
He was appointed mayor in November 1990 after Mayor Bill Bailey was elected District 66 state representative. After completing Bailey’s term, Burkhart served three more terms as mayor.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
To encourage more people to donate blood in honor of Burkhart, there was a playful competition going on between the city departments.
“There was a meeting for city of Seymour department heads, and the blood drive was discussed,” Lt. John Watson of the Seymour Police Department said. “A little competition got started as to which city department could bring in the most donors.”
Seymour Parks and Recreation Department Director Stacy Findley said she would make anything a competition for a good cause.
“I got up one morning and wanted to make a TikTok video, and so we made one to the theme song intro from the TV show ‘Parks and Rec,’” Findley said. “It showed all of us from our department, and we went to the Seymour Fire Department and police department.”
At the fire station, Findley and co-worker Tonya Disque wrote “Donate blood” and “#Seymourparks” with chalk on the sidewalk, and at the police station, they wrote “#gameon.” They wanted to raise awareness for the drive but also see their department win.
To give the Seymour Police Department an edge in the competition, they campaigned on their Facebook page.
Police Chief Bryant Lucas announced that for every person who donated blood for #teamSPD at the blood drive, he would donate $1 to Seymour Parks and Recreation out of his own pocket.
“That way, people don’t have to choose, and parks and rec gets something for their efforts, as well, so it’s a win-win situation,” he said.
While waiting for his turn to donate, Mayor Matt Nicholson said the odds were stacked against the mayor’s office since they don’t have as many employees as the city’s other departments and needed the public’s help.
“The friendly competition between departments is for trying to encourage donations more than anything but also to give somebody bragging rights,” he said. “The idea started as a joke in a meeting, then got ran with, and things have gotten hilarious at this point.”
Nicholson said Burkhart’s family brought in lunch to the blood drive Tuesday, consisting of pizza and cake, for all city employees, and many donors also got to enjoy it.
On behalf of all of the city departments, Nicholson thanked the Burkhart family for the food and for their presence at the drive. He said that meant a lot.
The public also was invited to donate blood. Alex Schepman of Seymour signed up to be a donor because he wanted to help others.
“I saw where there is a blood shortage, and I hadn’t given for a while,” he said. “Also, I saw on Facebook where the different city departments were trying to get donors for this blood drive.”
Jane Hays, Nicholson’s administrative assistant, said 46 people donated blood Tuesday, bringing in 52 units of blood.
“The donations were split in three parts and will be used by 156 hospital patients in Indiana,” Hays said.
As for which city department brought in the most donors, the verdict is still out, as there is not yet an exact count of team votes. But the hope is that the competition brought more people together for a good cause.
The city conducted the drive in conjunction with Versiti Blood Center of Indiana.