Community Leaders Honored at Memorial Blood Centers' 6th Annual What's Your Type? Benefit

ST. PAUL, Minn., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A record crowd of 450 business leaders, community advocates, volunteers, blood drive sponsors, donors, and recipients whose lives have been saved through blood donation came out last Thursday evening, April 22, 2010 to celebrate at Memorial Blood Centers' 6th annual What's Your Type? benefit.

Throughout the night, nearly $110,000 was raised to help Memorial Blood Centers replace an inefficient and outdated fleet of bloodmobiles with a new vehicle that will improve service to all the generous blood donors who give the gift of life.

With musical performances by Minnesota's own Tim Mahoney as well as Ali Gray and her band, an exciting live auction, and over 80 items put up for silent auction bidding, Memorial Blood Centers also paid tribute to four outstanding community leaders who have made a lasting impact on the organization's ability to fulfill its mission of saving lives through blood donation.

2010 award presentations included:

Community Service Award (in memory of Dr. William A. O'Brien, Jr.) accepted by Mr. Lee Skold, Corporate Vice President, on behalf of Cargill, Inc. in recognition of the company's outstanding achievements in creating awareness of the importance of blood donation. Also in attendance from Cargill were Tomme Beevas, Jim Recktenwald, Marge Lodden, Erik Lindell, and Denise Essel.  Cargill representatives are pictured here with Thomas Becker, MD (MBC Board Chair) and Don Berglund (MBC CEO).

William L. Hall Award to long-time donor and advocate Ralph Douglass, whose dedication over the past 30 years has brought his donation total to over 55 gallons.

The Herbert F. Polesky Award to Jane Swanson, Ph.D., in appreciation for her outstanding contributions to the field of transfusion medicine and health care, including the discovery of a new blood group antigen.

Presidential Award, honoring a Memorial Blood Centers' volunteer member of the board of directors who has demonstrated outstanding support of the organization's mission, to five-term board member Tom Whelan, Executive Vice President and COO at local public relations and marketing communications firm Nemer Fieger.

Save the date for next year's 7th annual What's Your Type? benefit: April 21, 2011.  For more information, call 651-332-7266.

More photos of the event:

Click here: previous event chairs Brenda LaChance and Ken LaChance, Vice President Wells Fargo.

Click here: community volunteers Nicole Behm-Koep, Lyndsay Kunkel, and Amy Morris.

Click here: Treyvon Blaylark, a blood recipient who lives with sickle cell disease, with his mother Raenell Blaylark, trainer with Memorial Blood Centers.

Click here: Memorial Blood Centers' What's Your Type? Facebook album pictures.

Memorial Blood Centers

For over 60 years, Memorial Blood Centers has been saving lives and providing national leadership in transfusion medicine. An independent, nonprofit serving over 30 hospital partners throughout Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin with life-saving blood, Memorial Blood Centers also provides technical expertise and state-of-the-art laboratory services to clients around the world.

SOURCE Memorial Blood Centers