Myself with Robert Meachem
The San Diego Chargers held their 34th annual blood drive this past Tuesday, November 20th at the Town & Country Hotel in San Diego, California.
I’ve been going to this event for the past 3 years and enjoy myself even more each year. As a fan, there are many perks to this event. For those who are donors, you receive: free admission, free parking, a Chargers blood drive t-shirt, a Chargers blood drive rubber wristband, a special wristband to wait in a special line for autographs, and an event program booklet. For those of you who are non-donors: there are still cool perks! You get the event program booklet and a Chargers rubber wristband. You also have to pay the cheap price of $5 for admission and $5 for parking. For both donors and non-donors, everyone gets free food (pizza, salad, desserts, hot dogs, etc), complimentary drinks (mini Rockstar energy drinks, Pepsi, grape soda and water) as well as live entertainment and fun activities for children.
The best part of this event is interacting and meeting with players off the field. It’s a better fan experience once you see your favorite players in the flesh. It’s very intense watching them win and lose games on the television but once you see them in person, it’s such a new and humbling experience. This year, I brought a pink Chargers jersey for my soon-to-be-daughter and it was great talking to the players about their kids. I even got to chat it up with Robert Meachem who told me he is expecting a boy soon! I caught a glimpse of Eric Weddle doing a radio interview and I was able to stop Antonio Garay for a picture. The autograph lines weren’t long at all and I waited 20 minutes maximum for autographs.
They close their event with a fashion show from the Charger players and their families. This is nice to watch because most of us fans are so use to seeing our players in uniform or warm up gear and seeing them in regular and professional clothing is an eye opener.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to donate this year because I’m pregnant but I do plan on donating next year and creating a tradition in attending this event once my daughter is born. I highly recommend that everyone attends this event because it’s family and age friendly so anyone can go! There are plenty of activities for everyone to go around and trust me, you’ll go home satisfied!
