This was emblazoned on the T-shirts handed out to donors during the Robert Hitchcox Memorial Blood Drive.Walker County Schools Superintendent Damon Raines led the charge of the local Robert Hitchcox Memorial Blood Drives earlier this month to try to bolster blood counts for local hospitals around the holidays.
“It was a great blood drive, but we did not hit our goal of 200 units,” said Raines. “We collected 121 units total. Capital Bank provided funding for the T-shirts. Having Robert Hitchcox dressed as Santa Claus with a Coca-Cola on the T-shirts made people happy. On the back of the T-shirt was a photo of Robert and it said ‘He sees you when you’re giving.'”
Blood drives were held at Gordon Lee, LaFayette and Ridgeland high schools, The Colonnade, the Walker County Civic Center and the Blood Assurance site in Fort Oglethorpe.
Hitchcox, who passed away last spring, was a “gallon blood donor” to Blood Assurance.
He also gave back by dressing up as Santa around the holidays and travelling to schools in Northwest Georgia to speak to children.
“He did lots of events for both school systems [Catoosa and Walker counties],” said Raines. “He did individual appearances. The month of December, he was Santa Claus all over the place.”
Email Katie Ward at kward@timesfreepress.com.