(Host) Hundreds of people packed Rutland’s Paramount Theatre and two other locations today hoping to help the city set a record for the largest single-day blood drive in the nation.
No totals yet, as the event is still going on. But as VPR’s Nina Keck reports, organizers and donors are hopeful they’ll reach their goal.
(Keck) It just might be the strangest holiday party of the season – but in Rutland it’s one many hate to miss.
(Robins) "I’m Kevin Robins I’m from Pittsford – you walk in and you feel good about walking in here you feel good about all the people that are here. It starts from the moment you walk in the door to the moment when you walk out the door."
"Hi – perfect go ahead and sign in, and you are going to be number 237 and you can have a seat anywhere on the left hand side here"
(Keck) Brandon resident Michael Carr is one of about 200 volunteers pitching in this year. Like a maître d showing guests to a prized table – he welcomes each donor and guides them through the maze of lounge chairs on the Paramount Stage.
(Carr and donor) "How is this right arm or left arm?
(Carr) "You know we have a sense that a party is all about fun – but a party is sometimes about people getting together and doing a common thing and enjoying what they do. I’m glad we do this Christmas week every year. I think it gets people off to thinking the right sort of thing for the holiday."
(Keck) Rutland has been hosting the Gift of Life Marathon since 2003 and they’ve set a New England record the last three years. But this fall, Manchester, New Hampshire broke that and set a new national record to boot.
Not one to avoid a challenge, organizers in Rutland expanded donations to three locations and worked hard to get the word out. An early morning computer glitch slowed things down for a while, but by lunchtime, things were back on track.
(Keck) John Valente, a Rutland Attorney sits across from his wife Paula –
(Valente) "My wife called me this morning and said we don’t’ have an appointment and it’s going to take 3 hours, but we need to go the Paramount and give blood today."
(Keck) A few chairs over, Ellie Hull is just about finished finishing donating. Her flabotomist Kathleen Luce hands her a bottle of water. Luce is one of about 200 Red Cross workers from five states staffing the event.
(Luce) "Phlebotomist, yes, or collections specialist – but that always make people like ‘what are you collecting exactly?’ creep out — I like the other one – I can’t spell it but I like phlebotomist.
We’re such a country that moves fast – we don’t have a lot of time – we don’t have that same sense of community. You think – you’re passing someone on the street and it’s not going to matter. But the truth is when you’re coming in here the people you pass on the street – you might have just saved their lives. It’s just the spirit of it."
(Hull) You’re making me feel way better – and now I feel even better! You did good.
I’m one that says the record does matter – I’m competitive and I want to win."
(Keck) For VPR news, I’m Nina Keck in Rutland.