2024 Battle of the Badges with Sgt. Ethan Sharman, (City of Hastings, Courtesy)
HASTINGS — Hastings’ first responders are once again turning the need for blood donations into a friendly competition.
Hastings Fire and Rescue and Hastings Police Department will be competing in the seventh-annual Battle of the Badges Blood Drive on Thursday, June 5.
The 2024 Hastings Competition was won by Hastings Fire and Rescue, 75 to 61 units.
The competition to secure blood donations for the American Red Cross is scheduled for noon to 6 p.m., Thursday, June 5 at the Hastings City Auditorium, 400 N. Hastings Ave. Donors can sign up by using the Red Cross blood donor app or visiting www.redcrossblood.org, search the zip code 68901 for the Battle of the Badges event.
Donors will be able to choose whether to support Team Fire or Team Police. Donations will be tallied at the end of the day to determine a winner.
Once the Hastings donations are counted, they’ll be compared to Battle of the Badges competitions across the Tri-Cities to announce an overall winner.
With 137 total units (donors are not required to contribute to the department totals), Hastings won the Tri-City competition in 2024, exceeding a goal of 91 units. Grand Island contributed 52 units and Kearney gave 58 units.
