Residents of Northwest Georgia are getting ready to roll up their sleeves and donate blood for the eighth annual Battle of the Badges – a friendly competition between the sheriff’s offices of Catoosa and Walker counties.
“The point is collecting blood, and people are donating blood to save lives. Every donation can save up to three lives,” Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said in a phone interview. “This is a way Sheriff (Gary) Sisk and I can give back to the community by holding Battle of the Badges.”
Sponsored by Blood Assurance, the blood drive is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
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Support Sisk and the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office by donating at their headquarters at 5842 U.S. Highway 41, Ringgold, or Wilson and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office by donating at their headquarters at 105 S Duke St., LaFayette, Wilson said.
A mobile blood donor station will be on hand at both offices. Register for a Walker County Sheriff’s Office time slot at bit.ly/WalBloodDr or a Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office time slot at bit.ly/CatBloodDr. Walk-ups are allowed as well. Donors are required to complete a health questionnaire.
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Walker County has won the friendly competition five times, Wilson said, while Catoosa County has won twice. Anyone unable to donate Friday can go by the Blood Assurance office at 3811 Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe and let officials there know which sheriff’s office they’re supporting. Up until June 5, those donations will be counted in the totals, according to a news release.
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Anyone with questions should contact Beth Sullivan at 706-935-2424.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.