KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — UPDATE (Sept. 23): MEDIC Regional Blood Center announced Friday that Tennessee won the annual blood drive against Florida.
They said Tennessee collected a total of 1,526 donations as of Friday, while LifeSouth collected a total of 1,404 donations.
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All this week, the MEDIC Regional Blood Center will be collecting blood donations in its annual competition against a Florida blood bank, LifeSouth.
The competition is an annual event held during the week leading up to when Tennessee Football plays against Florida. Each year, the blood centers compete to see who can collect the most donations. During the week, MEDIC takes its donation buses to different locations across East Tennessee, hoping to reach as many people as possible.
MEDIC will be collecting donations throughout the week at the places listed below.
Friday
- Walmart — Newport: 10 a.m. through 6 p.m
- MEDIC Ailor Avenue: 8 a.m. through 6 p.m.
- UT — Hodges Library: 10 a.m. through 6 p.m.
The blood drive continues until Sept. 23 and donors will receive a special tie-dye orange t-shirt as well as coupons for Salsarita's, Dunkin' Donuts, Papa John's, Smoothie King and Texas Roadhouse. Donors will also be entered to win a tailgate basket.
Anyone who wants to donate can call 865-524-3074 to make an appointment. The Vols vs. Florida game will be on September 24 starting at 3:30 p.m.
MEDIC said they just barely beat out their competitors on the first day of the blood drive. They said they had 265 donations, while Florida had 237 donations.
On the second day, MEDIC had 540 donations. Florida had 496 donations.
On the third day, MEDIC said they had a total of 842 donations while Florida saw a total of 807 donations.
On the fourth day, MEDIC said they had a total of 1,189 donations while Florida saw 1,106 donations.