Christiana Care takes top honors in Summer Blood Challenge

Teresa Celeno, an administrative manager at Christiana Care, accepts top honors on behalf of Christiana Care in the Blood Bank of Delmarva Summer Blood Challenge on Sept. 26 in Dover. From left, Blood Bank of Delmarva's Lisa Gravely, senior marketing manager, Roy Roper, president & CEO, Teresa Celano and Michael Waite, director of Marketing and Community Relations.

October 8, 2013

Christiana Care has won top honors in the 2013 Blood Bank of Delmarva’s Summer Blood Challenge with the highest point total and overall number of blood donations. Christiana Care also enlisted the highest number of new members to join the Blood Bank.

This is the 10th year in a row Christiana Care has won the challenge. Christiana Care recruited 928 blood donors and 177 new Blood Bank members, up from 560 and 142 last year respectively.

This year 241 local employers participated in the competition, bringing in 14,308 blood donations and 1,819 new Blood Bank members. That’s a blood donation increase of 20 percent over last year’s challenge.

Christiana Care employee Kevin Walker, RN, won the $1,000 TD bank VISA gift card.

The challenge is a competition among employers to recruit the most Blood Bank members and donors during the summer. It helps raise awareness of the need for blood at a time when vacations and outdoor activities often contribute to shortages in many areas of the country.

Thank you to all who donated to help alleviate the shortage of blood in our community.