'Battle of the Badges' Now Underway in Sioux Falls

It's that time of year, when the first responders of the Sioux Empire start mixing it up again, in a friendly little competition known as the "Battle of the Badges Blood Drive."

The competition between the true heroes of the Sioux Empire, the gang at the Sioux Falls Police Department, and the crew with Sioux Falls Fire Rescue has been going strong now for 26 years, and it gets underway again today and through Friday, (January 7).

As Dakota News Now reports, the mission behind Battle of the Badges is to help inspire people to donate blood during a time when blood donations are typically way down at area blood banks.

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Ken Versteeg, Executive Director of the Community Blood Bank told Dakota News Now, “We’re experiencing some severe shortages, shortages that we have not seen in the last 10 years."

Making the decision to give blood is a big one, and can often be a life-saving difference for our friends and neighbors in the community. To help illustrate this, just one blood donation could save as many as three lives.

According to Versteeg, “If we’re going to collect anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 units of blood at this event that could impact up to 3,600 lives in our community, so that’s a huge, huge amount of blood, and a lot of lives saved.”

The Battle of the Badges competition also allows the community to show their support for all the first responders of the Sioux Empire. As Dakota News Now reports, each time you make a blood donation, you're allowed to cast a vote for either the police or fire department and get a free tee-shirt representing the team you choose to back.

In addition to earning bragging rights, the two teams of first responders are also battling it out for charities near and dear to their hearts.

The SFPD is representing the South Dakota Special Olympics, while SFFR represents the Children’s Home Society. Two great organizations that do awesome work in this area.

The full list of this year's Battle of the Badges blood drive events can be found here.

Source: Dakota News Now

Results-Townsquare Media Sioux Falls Most Read South Dakota Stories of 2021

The end of the year is the natural time to take a look back at what has happened over the last 12 months.

Here at Results-Townsquare Media Sioux Falls, our websites and radio stations cover everything from local news stories to weather updates to business openings and closings to entertainment features to unique and interesting things you never even knew existed in and around Sioux Falls, South Dakota, northwest Iowa, and southwest Minnesota.

Results-Townsquare Media Sioux Falls:

Hot1047.com, KIKN.com, KXRB.com, 973KKRC.com, EspnSiouxFalls.com, B1027.com

From all of us here at Results-Townsquare Media Sioux Falls thank you for making us part of your life in 2021, and we look forward to a great 2022 with you.

Here are our 10 Most Read Stories for 2021:

10 Most Dangerous Cities in South Dakota

Cities on the east and west side of the Missouri River have made the latest list of South Dakota's Most Dangerous Cities for 2021.

Roadsnacks recently released its most 'Dangerous Cities' list and here in The Mount Rushmore state there are a few surprises, especially at the top. To determine the most dangerous cities in the state, Roadsnacks looked at the FBI's report on the latest violent crime, along with property crime statistics.

And surprisingly, the town with the most murders per capita in the state has less than 3,000 residents. Take a look at the list below.

For a look at the detailed list, visit roadsnacks.com Story Source: Roadsncaks

Source: ‘Battle of the Badges’ Now Underway in Sioux Falls