"Patriotic Picnic"
The First Public Blood Drive
for the Troops: May 20, 2007
The first military blood drive in the country that was open to the public was in May, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. Organized by Mr. Hank Bobulski and Carol Pagnanelli, it was organized to collect blood for soldiers wounded in Baghdad. Hank got the idea after watching a "60 Minutes" TV news editorial about the shortage of blood for the military in Iraq. He later was quoted as saying, "With the shortages of blood in the hospitals, I knew we needed to do something to help."
The drive was given the full support of the City of Columbus (including the Police and Fire Departments) and the Ohio National Guard and incredibly, the ASBP blood center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base decided to hold the drive in a civilian location---at the Newman Center of The Ohio State University.
The City of Columbus avidly supported the event, and the public turned out en masse for the opportunity to help those fighting for this country. Incredibly, the phenomenon went on all day. People just kept showing up, and somehow, so did the countless trays of food to feed them. Several political VIPs showed up as well to lend their support, fire trucks, police cars, and military vehicles added a nice touch to the occasion.
Signatures of some of the donors
from that day
At the end of the 12-hour all-day event, the staggering amount of 467 pints of blood had been collected, a record number that has never been approached again.
Some 2500 pictures were taken of this historic event.
Ohio State University Lantern article: 21 May, 2007
Hank and Carol later went on to help Ms. Sara Duvall organize another such drive in August in memory of her son, Aaron Reed, who as a member of Lima Company, had been killed in action in Iraq. Held in Chillicothe at the local branch of Ohio University, the blood drive netted 104 pints of blood for the Armed Forces.
An article about the original Aaron Reed Memorial Blood Drive in August, 2007. His mother arranged for special permission with the ASBP to hold the drive at a civilian location in Chillicothe, further stirring controversy about military blood drives and the public.
Happy to say, Carol and Hank are still at it---still fiercely promoting ASBP blood drives in Columbus. Here the inseparable dynamic duo donate at the June 11, 2011
drive in Whithall, still supporting the military/civilian
drives for the Armed Forces that they started over
four years ago in May, 2007.