Last Saturday, October 31, 2015, we had our third annual “Cartoonists Draw Blood” blood drive event with the American Red Cross. I came up with the concept in 2013 and tracked down the appropriate Red Cross people to put the event in motion, in addition to finding the venue that could handle the blood drive, be cost efficient, willing to work with us, and near a Metro station. So many prerequisites, so little time…
Each year we’ve been improving how the drive is produced and Troy-Jeffery Allen has stepped up to co-organize the event with me. It does help tremendously to have two people handle logistics, communicate with the American Red Cross, be in touch with the venue, wrangle artists, make sure we recruit blood donors, promote the event, set-up and handle what issues arise the day of, and more. Thank you, Troy!
Since it was Halloween on the day of the event this year, we encouraged blood donors to dress up in costume, although it was not required to give blood. Quite a few people did dress up. We had zombies, fun Halloween socks, ninjas, Mickey Mouse, Daredevil, vikings, and more.
The Takoma Voice provided online coverage before the event. Here is the link: http://tpssvoice.com/2015/10/30/cartoonists-draw-blood-again
Capitol Communicator also broadcasted us on their Events page: http://www.capitolcommunicator.com/cartoonists-draw-blood-set-for-oct-31
We had many artists who wanted to join us, so we split into two shifts. Thanks to all the cartoonists who donated their time and talents: Steve Artley, Carolyn Belefski, Bill Brown, Chris Flick, Eric Gordon, Art Hondros, Mal Jones, Teresa Roberts Logan, Joe Sutliff
Thanks to Joe Carabeo, who documented the event with his film and photography skills.
Thanks to our sponsors: Cartoonists Draw Blood, American Red Cross, National Cartoonists Society, Seekers Church
We exceeded expectations by going over our target goal provided by the Red Cross — it’s only Monday morning and they’ve proclaimed our event “a big success” and already proposed a date for 2016! Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for another event next fall.
Thanks to everyone for being a part of this and saving so many lives with art — in addition to having fun with us.
More photos can be found in the gallery at the Curls Studio Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153644273257381.1073741862.50763422380&type=3&pnref=story
