Evanston Police Detective Receives Award for Most Innovative Blood Drive Coordinator for 2010
In November 2009, Evanston Police Detective Joseph Bush was severely injured in an accident on his way to work. Detective Bush’s injuries were as such, that doctors did not think Officer Bush would survive.
This is when friend and fellow Detective Tracy Williams learned that Detective Bush
would need many blood transfusions. Detective Williams then contacted LifeSource, Chicagoland's Blood Center, and the Joseph Bush Replacement Fund Blood Drive was soon scheduled for December of 2009.
To promote the blood drive, Detective Williams visited a number of police and fire departments throughout the Chicago area and created a website for the blood drive, which also included updates on Officer Bush’s recovery. It was because of this effort that the Joseph Bush Replacement Blood Drive was a huge success, bringing in nearly 300 donors.
To acknowledge this effort LifeSource nominated Detective Williams as the “Most Innovative Blood Drive Coordinator” in a state-wide competition, hosted by the Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers. Subsequently, Detective Williams was chosen to receive the award.
On November 8, 2010, Detective Williams was presented the award by LifeSource representative Margaret Vaughn and Illinois 18th State Representative Robyn Gabel. In addition to this award, Detective Williams was among those honored by a State of Illinois Proclamation honoring Blood Drive Coordinators during the month of July 2010.
LifeSource, is a non-profit corporation established in 1987 through the merger of the Blood Center of Northern Illinois and the Red Cross Blood Services - Mid America Region. LifeSource is the largest blood center in Illinois and distributes a half-million blood products annually to approximately 60 area hospitals in meeting the need for patient transfusion therapy.
LifeSource operates 20 donor centers, 2 mobile unit supported donor centers and conducts an average of 10 mobile blood drives daily. LifeSource recruits donors, collects bone marrow, and draws blood to separate into useful components like: whole blood, platelets, plasma, stem cells and other special products for hospitals and healthcare customers.