Los Alamos National Laboratory intern and first-time donor Charles Behrman shows off the T-shirt he received for donating. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

• Together, they raised 605 units benefiting more than 1,800 community members

After two losses in a row, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) won this year’s friendly blood drive competition against Sandia National Laboratories. The real winners are New Mexicans, as the contest yielded 605 units of blood — enough to benefit as many as 1,815 patients.

This is important because in summer, blood donations across the country tend to decrease, even as need increases due to outdoor activities, increased traffic accidents and elective surgeries. Here in New Mexico, the timing of the annual contest helps reverse this trend.

Los Alamos won in all three categories, with a total of 329 units collected from 273 employee donors (with a whopping 104 new donors). Sandia collected 276 units from 217 donors (49 of them first-time donors).

“The culture of giving is abundant in both labs, and we continue to be humbled by the generosity of  employees and energized by the spirit of competition, which is pervasive at both labs,“ said Heidi Chase, account manager for Los Alamos with the Lab’s blood drive partner Vitalant. “Together, we collected 140 units more than last year! That is simply amazing.”