The 28th Annual Gail Singer Memorial Blood drive officially sets the national record by collecting 1,959 pints of blood!

The 28th Annual Gail Singer Memorial Blood Drive has officially set the national record as the largest one-day community blood drive, by successfully collecting 1,959 pints of blood from the 2,325 potential donors that walked through the door of the Radisson Hotel & Expo Center in downtown Manchester Tuesday.  The previous record of 1,835 pints was held by the St. Louis Cardinals and the University of Missouri.

"We're thrilled that we accomplished our goal of setting the national record, but moreover that we have made such a difference" Singer added.  "This drive will save so many lives. We can’t thank the donors enough for coming out and for those that had a wait, for being patient through the process. And of course without the support from community partners such as FairPoint, this would not have been possible."

"FairPoint has a long history of supporting the American Red Cross and has held blood drives in the past, which were well attended and staffed by FairPoint volunteers" said Teresa Rosenberger, FairPoint’s New Hampshire State President.  "Many FairPoint employees donated blood and recruited donors. I could not be prouder of how our employees came together to support this blood drive.  It is a true testament to our community focus" added Rosenberger. "FairPoint was proud to sponsor the event and we are delighted that we broke the national record." 

Over 200 Red Cross staff members came from all over New England to make this drive possible. This was in addition to the countless volunteers that dedicated their day to make sure that things ran smoothly and each donor felt appreciated.

"What an amazing turnout we had" said Stephen Singer, Chairman of the blood drive committee and President of Merchants Automotive Group. "This is a tremendous accomplishment that comes at the perfect time, as the need is so great."

Summer months are historically a challenging time for the American Red Cross. However, this year, the Red Cross has cited a 10-year unprecedented low in blood supply.  Hurricane Irene shut down 60 blood drives along the east coast in the past week, which was approximately 1,500 pints of blood lost.

The Red Cross has worked with the Gail Singer Memorial Blood Drive committee to grow this blood drive and improve the blood collection process year after year. 

Thank you to all of our community partners who made this possible! including Subway, Concord Nissan, Centrix Bank, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the NH Fisher Cats, Manchester Monarchs, SEE Science Center and many more.