On July 10, 2001, Sgt. Dan R. Starnes of the Morgan County Indiana Sheriff’s Department, lost his life as a result of gunshot wounds sustained during a line of duty gun battle with a burglary suspect four weeks earlier.

To keep his memory alive his surviving spouse, Janice, organized the Sgt. Dan R. Starnes Memorial Blood Drive in Morgan County later that year, and has organized a blood drive each year since in Dan’s memory. In 2006, Janice took the blood drive statewide and renamed it the Indiana Fallen Officers Blood Drive.

The Indiana Blood Center is a vital link in Indiana’s health care infrastructure, supplying more than 550 units of blood to more than 60 Indiana hospitals every day. The nonprofit community service organization was founded in 1952 to provide a continuous, safe and adequate supply of blood products and testing services.

Locally, a blood drive will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, at Warsaw’s Center Lake Pavilion, 117 Canal St.