Ray Crothers Blood Drive
The Manchester Road Race Committee will team up with the American Red Cross once again this November when it sponsors its annual blood drive on the day after the Thanksgiving Day run.
The annual “Ray Crothers Blood Drive” will be held on Friday, November 29, 2024, from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm in the gymnasium at Manchester High School, 134 East Middle Turnpike in Manchester. Everyone who donates a pint of blood will receive a Manchester Road Race tee shirt.
Remember, the frequency for whole blood donations is every 56 days. To be eligible for the Ray Crothers Blood Drive, do not donate after September 29, 2023.
Walk-in donors are welcome. Appointments, which are encouraged, can be made by calling 1-800-733-2767, or on-line at the Red Cross website.
The road race committee initiated the blood drive, which is held on the day after Thanksgiving, in 1986. The event is named in memory of Ray Crothers, a long-time participant and former MRR champion, who died of cancer in 2008.
Last year, the blood drive collected 372 pints of blood, which benefited 1116 patients in need of blood, plasma, and platelets. The local drive has in recent years become one of the largest single-day blood collection efforts in Connecticut, and 8,258 pints of blood have been donated at it since it began. Financial support is provided by ECHN and the Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants.
 Ray Crothers |  |
