posted on 5/31/2022
The American Red Cross declared the Town of Durham the winner of the blood donation challenge between Durham, Newmarket and Dover.
The municipal leaders of each community had challenged each other to see which municipality could get the best “capacity utilization” for blood donations on one day in May as a friendly competition to help shore up the Red Cross’ vulnerable blood supply. Dover City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr., Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig and Newmarket Town Manager Steve Fournier agreed that the winner would be treated to lunch by the other two.
American Red Cross determined the winner by calibrating which municipality had the best capacity utilization on the day of blood donations. Capacity utilization means that if a city/town’s target collection amount set by American Red Cross in advance was X units, and it collected X units, it achieved 100% capacity utilization. If it collects less than X units, then that percentage is what will be used in comparisons. Durham and Dover had its collection day on May 25; Newmarket’s was on May 5.
- Durham was first with 114%
- Dover was second with 92.9%
- Newmarket was third with 92.6%
“The strong turnout in Dover, Newmarket, and Durham really helped move the needle forward,” said Selig, “I’m looking ahead to a nice lunch with Messrs. Joyal and Fournier in Durham over the next few weeks!”
American Red Cross Regional CEO Stephanie Couturier, left, visits with City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr. as he donates blood at the McConnell Center on May 25.