By VINCE ROBINSON
Communications Manager, American Red Cross

Throughout the summer months, the American Red Cross will participate in the statewide Fallen Officer Blood Drive Campaign. This is the ninth year the Red Cross will host blood drives across Indiana to honor fallen officers and raise awareness of the need for blood.

Janice Starnes, whose husband Sgt. Daniel Starnes was killed in the line of duty in 2001, founded the campaign and continues to organize it each year. “Most encouraging,” Starnes says, “is that the blood drives continue to grow and our officers are not forgotten thanks to the people who come to give blood in their memory.”

More than 30,000 units of blood have been collected since the 2007 start of the Fallen Officer blood drives. To make an appointment to give blood, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call (800) 733-2767. Those who are unable to give blood can support blood donations and invite others to make a lifesaving donation by creating a SleevesUp virtual blood drive at redcrossblood.org/SleevesUp.

The following Fallen Officer Blood Drives will take place in your community:

• Elkhart County: 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Friday, June 12, at Nappanee Police Department, 301 W. Lincoln St., Nappanee.
• Kosciusko County: noon until 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, at Center Lake Pavilion, 117 Canal St., Warsaw.
• LaGrange County: 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, at LaGrange First Church of God, 777 N. Detroit St., LaGrange.
• Marshall County: 1:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 29, at Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, 1400 N. Pioneer Drive, Plymouth.

For a complete list of Fallen Officer drives in the Indiana-Ohio region, visit http://www.redcrossblood.org/officers.