The American Red Cross in Wichita is sponsoring the 26th annual Battle of the Badges blood drive, a competition among law enforcement, fire departments, and EMS.  This year’s event will include Sedgwick County Emergency Management for the first time.

People can donate blood and platelets to the Red Cross and then vote for one of the four agencies in the competition.   Last year’s event was won by the fire departments.

The Executive Director for the Red Cross South Central and Southeast Region, Shannon Wedge, said the goal for this year’s campaign is 806 units, which would put the 26 years of the drive over the 30,000 mark for donations.

Wedge said Red Cross will not have walk-in donations this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so people should make an appointment by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or by going to the web sites redcross.org. or redcrossblood.org    There is also a Red Cross app that is available for smartphones.

The drive will continue through January 2nd.