The annual All-American Fish Fry Blood Drive was held on Friday, June 30 from 9 am to 4 pm.

Mark Sanders’ All-American Fish Fry Blood Drives are the largest drives in Kay County. While most sit anywhere from 30-80 people, this fish fry blood drive has seen more than double that number for the past several years.

The All-American Fish Fry Blood Drive is an annual drive held on the last Friday in June and designed to fill the donation shortages that the Our Blood Institute (OBI) faces in the summer. Schools across all of Oklahoma provide a huge portion of donations for OBI, so during the summer months their donation numbers plummet. To build back some of the 40% of donations they are losing, those behind the All-American Fish Fry Blood Drive go all-out to make sure that those needs are being met.

This year, the drive chose to honor Sean Anderson by calling itself the “Sean Anderson Memorial Fish Fry Blood Drive.”

Anderson passed away on Dec. 24, 2022 at the age of 51. He is remembered for his time as a member of Team Radio for over 25 years, and his involvement in various charities throughout the community. Anderson even had his own personal initiative called “The Blessings Box”, located downtown in front of the Team Radio studio at 1st and Grand, which provides 24/7 access to non-perishable foods and personal hygiene items. The box was renamed to “The Sean Anderson Blessings Box” shortly after his passing.

The blood drive itself was held at the Carolyn Renfro Center which had been converted into an area to accommodate stations for donors to give blood, and tables for them to enjoy fried fish, fries, and various snacks.

The event also had several door prizes and give aways including cards, gift baskets, fishing poles, camp chairs, tickets to events like Frontier City, and more.

The fish fry was hoping to reach their goal to trigger a donation of $10 per blood donor to the Opportunity Center of Ponca City, a charity chosen by Anderson’s daughters.

By the end of the day, 150 people in the community came to donate. While that number didn’t quite meet the anticipated goal, many lives will be saved with the donations that were received.

Sanders spoke highly about Sean’s daughters and working with them. Though it was very difficult for the daughters to remember the loss of their father, they were incredibly gracious and wonderful to work with, according to Sanders. They were interviewed at KPNC, Sean’s workplace, and were more than willing to be apart of the cause.

Information about upcoming blood drives from OBI can be found at ourbloodinstitute.

org/events/oklahoma.