DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — The 26th Annual Officer John P. Kalaman Blood Drive is returning to Centerville.
According to the Community Blood Center, the blood drive will be held on Thursday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Centerville Police Department. The blood drive is held each year to mark Kalaman’s birthday.
Kalaman was a Centerville police officer who was responding to a crash on Jan. 12, 1998 on a portion of I-675, where conditions on the highway were icy. Washington Township Firefighter Robert O’Toole was also responding to the same crash when he and Kalaman were both hit and killed by a motorist.
The fallen officer’s mother and father, John and Paula Kalaman, sponsored the very first memorial blood drive in 1998. In Kalaman’s name since the annual drive began, over 4,474 units of blood have been donated.
“Hopefully it will be as good as in the past. Even the year of COVID in 2020, we moved it to Centerville High School and still had a good turnout.,” John Kalaman said. “I know there are a lot of people who will make sure they will come to this one. We plan on being there from beginning to end, that’s for sure. Paula may be doing a little more sitting. She’ll probably push herself and collapse at the end of the day.”
If you would like to donate blood in honor of the fallen Centerville officer, click here or call 937-461-3220. Everyone that donates blood will receive a “Blood Donor Difference Maker” t-shirt.
