Battle of the Badges pits WPD against WFD to recruit blood donors

Public Information Officers from WPD and WFD preview friendly competition to raise awareness about blood shortages

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — They normally work together to solve crimes and protect the Wilmington community, but the gloves are off this month as members of the Wilmington Police Department (WPD) take on the Wilmington Fire Department (WFD) in the “Battle of the Badges” for blood donor recruitment.

American Red Cross of the Cape Fear Area Executive Director James Jarvis talked about how critical the need for blood is this summer, when he spoke with Good Morning Carolina’s (GMC’s) Donna Gregory.

“In the last 2 months we’ve actually distributed 50,000 pints more than we’ve collected [nationwide]”, Jarvis explained.

“And we have to collect 29,000 pints of red blood cells every day to distribute in the country to support 2400 hospitals,” he said.

“This is a great way to recognize our first responders and also to encourage a friendly competition to collect blood and see which department can collect the most blood.”

Rebekah Thurston, WFD Public Information Officer, detailed why she thinks her department will win the Battle of the Badges.

“We are funnier, obviously,” she joked.

“We’ve got our Citizens Academy graduates; we’re hoping they show up for us. We’ve got some Junior Academy graduates, we’ve got our firefighters,” she listed.

“We’re gonna win this,” she declared.

The WPD Public Information Officer Greg Willett was a bit cagier, saying his department was going to ‘try hard’.

“I’m gonna say it’s trade secrets,” he deadpanned.

The two competed in an awkward physical challenge live on Good Morning Carolina involving hula hoops, and even held a singing competition to wish GMC anchor Matt Bennett a happy birthday!

The results of the competitions are in the above video.

The “Battle of the Badges” will come to a head Saturday, Aug. 30, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Red Cross Blood Donation Center, 1102 S. 16th St., Wilmington.

To sign up to donate at a blood drive near you, visit here