Summer Drive to Save Lives Raffle with Vitalant!
Join Vitalant on Wednesday, Oct. 11, when we give away a 2023 VW Taos S donated by our Valley Volkswagen dealers to one lucky blood donor or blood drive coordinator! Ten names have been drawn from among the 52,420 donors and 409 goal-making coordinators who supported Vitalant May 26 – Sept. 7, building summer blood supplies for hospital patients. During our exciting Deal or No Deal game show event, each of our finalists will be awarded a case with a key – only one of which will start the engine of a Volkswagen in our parking lot. You will also meet Kim Taynton, a Valley leukemia survivor who is alive today with the help of 30 blood donors. For a blood donation or appointment go to vitalant.org
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 All right, let me throw my earpiece in because this is pretty cool.
00:04 It's one of the biggest events of the year for Vitalant.
00:07 It's the Car Giveaway.
00:08 So let's head out to Lexi and see what's happening.
00:11 Hey, Lexi.
00:12 Hey, Brad.
00:15 Yeah, this is such an exciting event.
00:17 I am here with Sue Thu from Vitalant, and this is such an amazing event.
00:22 Sue, for those who haven't heard of it, tell us what we're out here doing today.
00:26 Well, we're so excited.
00:27 We're just about to give away a brand-new 2023 Volkswagen Taos
00:31 to one of ten finalists that have been drawn from amongst more than 52,000 people
00:36 who donated blood, as well as all of our goal-making coordinators.
00:41 We've been drawing finalists all summer long between May 26th and September 7th,
00:45 and it's all down to today.
00:47 We have ten Volkswagens in our parking lot.
00:50 Each finalist is going to pick a silver case that has a symbol that matches
00:54 one of these ten Volkswagens.
00:56 And then what will happen is once these finalists come to their cars,
01:01 only one of them is going to start, and the person who ends up with the case
01:05 that starts a Volkswagen in our parking lot is going to win this brand-new
01:09 Volkswagen sitting right here in our parking lot.
01:11 They win this exact car.
01:13 They win this exact car.
01:14 But what's so exciting about our ceremony is that they win the value of the car
01:19 so that the finalist that wins can actually trade it for any Volkswagen in inventory.
01:24 So we're very excited that we're going to outfit a blood donor with the perfect car
01:29 that fits their lifestyle and their taste.
01:31 It's just going to be a really amazing opportunity for us to thank people.
01:35 And this has all been donated by the Value Volkswagen dealers.
01:38 Okay, I love that you clarified that because I was asking earlier, wait,
01:42 which car do they get?
01:43 Do they get the car that their key starts so they get to go and choose?
01:47 So that's really, really cool.
01:49 Okay, so we also have Kim over here.
01:51 Can we bring Kim over?
01:53 Hi.
01:55 Hi, Kim.
01:56 So you just got finished telling your story to this group over here.
01:59 Please tell us just a little bit of an overview so that those watching at home
02:02 also know just really quickly.
02:04 Of course.
02:05 Nine years ago I was diagnosed with leukemia,
02:07 and the very day I found out that I had leukemia they put me in the hospital
02:12 and said, "You need to have a blood transfusion today to save your life."
02:16 Oh, my gosh.
02:17 And I needed two units that day just to save me.
02:20 I would have died without it.
02:22 And over the course of the next six months I needed 30 blood and platelet transfusions
02:27 to keep me going through all of the treatment for chemotherapy--
02:31 I mean all the treatment for leukemia, which was chemotherapy.
02:33 Which was chemo, of course.
02:34 And that came from 30 different blood donors.
02:36 That's right.
02:37 That is incredible.
02:38 And those are the people that we're so grateful to that have actually taken their time
02:43 and given their lifeblood to save other people's lives like mine.
02:48 And the thing I like to remember to say is that it was there when I needed it.
02:53 It was there that day that I needed it, and I didn't think I would.
02:56 That morning I didn't wake up thinking I would need a unit or two units of blood, but I did.
03:01 And it was there because of people like this and because of my talent organizing all of this stuff.
03:07 Absolutely, yes.
03:08 There's so much good work being done out here.
03:10 And like you said, you didn't wake up thinking that you would need that that morning.
03:13 And so many people that is the case, that that's something they don't think about.
03:17 People like this who have come out to donate blood, they are saving, literally saving lives.
03:22 So for you, is this something in the future--I don't know if you're able to now--
03:25 but is this something that you are going to do?
03:27 Actually, I'm not really able to donate blood myself.
03:30 Gotcha.
03:31 But what I do is I volunteer with Vitalant at many of their blood drives and at events like this
03:37 to spread the word and just talk to people.
03:39 I go out and talk to companies.
03:41 I talk to many people about the importance of blood donation
03:44 and how it saves lots of people, not just that cop that got hurt, which is great that it helps that,
03:51 or the trauma patient, but just regular people who have cancer and don't know it.
03:56 Oh, my gosh, absolutely.
03:57 I was reading a little bit about your story, and you were saying that you had all these symptoms
04:02 and none of the doctors had quite put it together yet, and then when they did, it became an emergency.
04:08 And in that moment, you needed that blood that day, that moment, and Vitalant was there for you.
04:13 Exactly.
04:14 That is so great.
04:15 And, yeah, I love that you come out, you volunteer, you do these amazing things,
04:19 and you spread the word so that other people can come and donate blood.
04:22 So today is such a great way to give back, and I'm super excited--
04:26 I'm sure you're super excited--to see the kind of game show style that we're going to see in a minute.
04:31 It's fun.
04:32 Absolutely, yeah, because they could just, you know, say, "Hey, here you go.
04:36 We want to honor you and give you a card, but we're going to make it really fun and make it an event."
04:40 So, Kim, thank you for sharing your story with us.
04:42 You're welcome.
04:43 We're going to stick around, hang out, and see who wins a car later today.
04:47 So, Kim, thank you for being here.
04:48 Guys, we're going to throw it back to you in the studio.
04:51 Awesome.
04:52 All right, Lexi, looking forward to seeing someone win that car.
04:55 So we'll check with you just a little bit later on.
04:58 Welcome back to the Arizona Daily Mix.
05:00 All right, we haven't won anything with Mark Wahlberg being here.
05:03 He hasn't come in yet, but I know one person will be winning a brand-new car,
05:06 so let's head back out to Lexi and find out who that is.
05:10 Hey, Brad, yeah, so we are here.
05:13 We are about to start the game show.
05:16 So Sue is coming over to us right now because she's going to walk us through how this is going to work today.
05:22 Sue, come on over.
05:24 All right, so you just got through going through each contestant
05:29 and talking about where their blood went and just kind of hearing a little bit about their story.
05:35 So for those who are just tuning in, tell us exactly how the giveaway is going to work.
05:39 So Andy right now is going to mix up our finalists several different ways.
05:44 They're each going to choose a water bottle that has a number inside,
05:49 and that's what's going to dictate what order they get to select their cases in.
05:53 And then as soon as they select their cases--or excuse me, then they will select their cases.
06:00 And inside each case is a symbol that will match a symbol in one of these windows.
06:05 And so that will choose which car that each person goes to.
06:09 And then we're going to do a countdown, 3, 2, 1.
06:13 Our blood recipient, Kim, will drop the flag,
06:16 and then we'll determine who's going to win this brand-new Volkswagen here in our parking lot.
06:22 Oh, my gosh, this is so fun.
06:24 So I love that there are multiple steps.
06:26 You guys have made this so much fun, and we're waiting for that flag drop from Kim.
06:31 This is going to be so exciting.
06:33 Okay, so--I'm sorry, remind me how many contestants we have.
06:37 So we had about 52,000 people donate blood this summer.
06:42 We've drawn 10 finalists from amongst 52,000 blood donors.
06:46 And how did you draw those names? Was it random or was it based on something?
06:49 It's random. Oh, it's random.
06:50 We go to a website and say, "Give me a random number between one and however many people are in that drawing."
06:56 And whosoever's on that row of the spreadsheet is actually the finalist.
07:01 Some of these people were drawn from amongst 17,000 people who gave during their particular category.
07:07 We chose three finalists just at different time increments in the summer.
07:11 Two finalists were drawn from amongst people who gave blood during holiday weeks at special events.
07:17 We have a teen donor finalist, a goal-making coordinator finalist.
07:21 We have a person who gave an automated donation,
07:24 which is taking the extra time to match your blood type to a specialized procedure that will help patients the most.
07:30 And then we also have two Volkswagen finalists, one for visiting the Volkswagen website and registering their promo code,
07:38 and another for people who actually dropped their bonus entry card in a showroom raffle box.
07:43 And that's just our way of encouraging everybody to go see the beautiful Volkswagen fleet
07:49 and all the wonderful cars that they have to offer.
07:51 I love that. Yes, we have some amazing Volkswagens here today.
07:55 And like you were saying earlier, they don't get the car that they start.
08:00 They get the value, and then they go get to pick a car that works perfectly for them and their family.
08:06 And, you know, it's just really nice to know that many times our--we do this every summer with AZTV and Volkswagen,
08:13 and many times the finalists actually pick the prize car that we have here today.
08:17 Of course, we unwrap it, because we don't want someone to get a speeding ticket while they're driving something with the Vitalik logo.
08:23 Sure.
08:24 But they can choose the prize car, or they can apply the value of that car towards any Volkswagen in inventory.
08:30 So it's really a great way to get fitted with the car of your dreams.
08:34 Volkswagen has so many beautiful models.
08:36 They've got sedans. They've got numerous different SUVs.
08:42 Oh, yeah.
08:43 They've even got a new electric car.
08:44 Oh, I love that.
08:45 So I think that that person will get the perfect car just for them.
08:48 Okay, Kim. And so--Sue, excuse me. Tell us what they're doing over here.
08:53 So right now, they are choosing their cases, and they're going to--they're going to go to the car that matches the symbol in the case in the car window.
09:04 Okay.
09:05 So now we have Heather Rice that's coming.
09:08 She has selected her case and is--we'll find out what car she's going to.
09:14 So we have Heather here.
09:16 Want to walk over here with me?
09:18 Okay. So she's walking on over.
09:21 And so we have the little symbols in the corner.
09:23 So some of them are blood types.
09:25 I see that we have the Vitalant logo.
09:28 So that's what they're doing right now.
09:30 They're trying to match up their case to the logo, to the little symbol that they see in the corner.
09:36 Okay. So slowly everybody's headed over there.
09:39 We're just moments away from finding out who's going to win the car.
09:42 This is so exciting.
09:44 Number seven.
09:46 Be positive. There goes my blood type.
09:49 You know, I don't know my blood type.
09:51 You know how to find out your blood type?
09:53 That's terrible. I need to know. How do I know?
09:54 You just donate blood.
09:55 And is that all me?
09:56 That's one of the first things you find out.
09:57 Okay.
09:58 Yes, that's one of the first things you find out.
10:00 You get a free mini physical.
10:01 You get to find out your blood type.
10:03 Amazing.
10:04 You get a cholesterol test.
10:05 You get all these wonderful things happen when you donate blood.
10:08 There's so many other reasons to go donate blood, other than the fact that you're literally saving lives.
10:12 That's right.
10:13 Yes, that's great. I need to make sure I do that.
10:15 Although we only have one Volkswagen Taos to each day.
10:18 Okay, so it seems like almost everyone has taken their case.
10:22 No one will go home empty-handed. Each finalist received a $50 gas card and a gift bag.
10:28 So everyone is out there.
10:30 I guess I will drop the flag. I'm not finding Kim right now.
10:33 All right, so Sue is now going to drop the flag.
10:35 Okay, Sue, go right ahead.
10:37 So, so far everyone is at their car.
10:40 We are anxiously awaiting what key is going to turn on what car.
10:47 So Sue has the flag.
10:53 Okay, we're getting ready for Sue to drop the flag.
10:58 And we will see who the winner is.
11:00 All right.
11:03 Here we go.
11:12 Okay, so they're going into their driver's door.
11:16 They're not getting in quite yet.
11:21 Right now they are taking a seat.
11:25 The crowd is really excited.
11:27 Finalists, please remove the key from the case and keep it in your position until you are cued with the flag drop.
11:34 All right, they're getting the keys ready to go.
11:36 Finalists and hosts, watch the flag in the middle of the line.
11:40 When I count down from three, your host will give you your key and you can go.
11:45 All right, here we go.
11:49 The final moment.
11:51 The flag is being handed to Kim.
11:54 And she's going to get ready to drop it. Here we go.
11:56 We're going to find out who our winner of a brand-new car is.
11:59 Three, two, one.
12:03 Start your engines.
12:07 Starting their engines.
12:13 Congratulations.
12:14 Tell us your name.
12:15 I'm Kirk.
12:16 How does it feel to win a brand-new car?
12:18 Surprising.
12:19 I didn't think I would win today.
12:20 All right.
12:21 Well, congratulations.
12:22 This is so exciting.
12:23 And tell us what it means to you to donate blood.
12:25 It's great.
12:26 You know, I work in the lab, so I know how important it is.
12:28 You know, we need it at our hospital.
12:30 So it's just great.
12:32 It's a great feeling.
12:33 So I guess I better get out there and donate a little more.
12:35 There you go.
12:36 Well, when it comes to winning a car, yeah, you might as well.
12:38 All right, congratulations.
12:39 Congratulations.
12:40 Thank you.
12:41 Congratulations.
12:42 Congratulations.
12:43 [end]