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MEDIC Regional Blood Center donor and board member James Harrison is lacing up his running shoes. Why? He wants to bring awareness to Sickle Cell Disease by training for and running the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon in April 2024.

James has three children –two of whom have Sickle Cell Disease. Harrison has been working closely with MEDIC staff since early 2022 to bring education and outreach to the Knoxville community. He wants to expand information about the importance of blood donations for Sickle Cell patients of all ages.

“It’s been a blessing to MEDIC to have James and his family assisting with outreach,” said Kristy Altman, Vice-President of Communication and Public Relations. “The Harrison family has been key supporters and advocates for blood donation and its importance in the African-American community, and we’ve been able to meet with and talk to so many potential donors through the last 18 months.”

Harrison will be training for the Covenant Health Knoxville Half Marathon set to take place on April 7, 2024. His goal is 10,000 donations beginning now through April 7. Those donations can be made anywhere in the world and can be tracked using the hashtag #1dadcan or via a link on the MEDIC website.

To watch his promotional video, log onto:  https://youtu.be/dGq6Pqd0vVU?si=abalqnNEwfcazu-A

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is an independent nonprofit community blood center. MEDIC is the primary blood product provider for 26 hospitals in 23 counties in East Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky. This includes Blount Memorial Hospital, Covenant Health System, East TN Children’s Hospital, Tennova and the University of Tennessee Medical Center locations.

Donors can call 865-524-3074 to schedule their appointment or visit medicblood.org/donate.  They may also download the new MEDIC donor app to search for a drive closest to them and schedule their appointment.

For more information on MEDIC Regional Blood Center, visit the website at: www.medicblood.org or contact Vice-President of Communications Kristy Altman at Kaltman@medicblood.org.  You may also phone her at: 865-805-2008.