McFarland blood drive honors former Red Cross director

“John was an amazing man and he touched a lot of people in the community and all over the state of Mississippi,” said Denise Smith, senior account manager for Red Cross recruitment, Alabama/Mississippi Region.

His years of service are reflected in longtime donors like Ed Ramos, who’s been donating off and on since 1977.

“They always seem to have an emergency, so it’s just about helping people,” Ramos said.

The event happened in Gulfport on Tuesday and will set up shop in Hattiesburg on Wednesday.

“We recently got out of what’s called an appeal, which means we only had a limited blood supply,” Smith added. “That’s a major catastrophe away from having little or no supply. That’s a scary thing. We have to constantly collect that blood. It’s not something you can buy or produce.”

To make it interesting, the incentive is for any donor from now until Nov. 30, you get a pair of socks commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the movie “Elf.”

“Not only do you get to save lives this Thanksgiving, but you also get these nice Christmas socks to celebrate the movie,” Smith said

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