Summersville, WV (WOAY) – Donors turned out Thursday for the first day of the annual Lt. Aaron Acree Memorial Blood Drive, a two-day event honoring the late Summersville police lieutenant and raising money for first responders in crisis.
Acree’s cousin, Melissa Adkins, remembers him as a man who cared deeply about people.
“Aaron was larger than life … He had a wicked sense of humor. And he cared so much about people … Even people that he’s arrested, he treated them with such respect. He upheld the law, of course, but with people that he arrested, they come and donate blood each year, which is really a testament of his character,” Adkins said.
His family says the weight of his career led to his death.
“In my opinion, we lost Aaron as a direct result of his job being a police officer. Aaron took his life on October 11th, 2018,” Adkins said.
“He was a blood donor, so his family thought a blood drive would be a really, really amazing way to save lives in his memory,” said Vanessa Stapleton, president of Armor Up West Virginia.
Adkins said the family made a promise after his death.
“We kind of vowed at the funeral that we were going to make it count 102 ways, because 102 was his unit number,” she said.
Organizers hope to collect 102 blood donations. An auction and hot dog sale at the drive also raise money for Armor Up West Virginia.
“Those funds have gone into Armor Up West Virginia and have paid for five West Virginia first responders to go get inpatient help when they were suicidal,” Stapleton said.
That help begins with the organization’s crisis hotline for first responders. Ashleigh Sparks, a volunteer with Armor Up West Virginia, said her family has been on the other end of that call.
“About four years ago, we had to utilize the hotline for my husband, and he was put in treatment and paid for with the funds from this blood drive,” Sparks said.
Sparks, a former first responder, now helps others get into treatment. She said many first responders resist asking for help.
“Most of them, they deny, deny, deny they need help. They’ve got it all under control until it reaches a point that it’s pretty severe … Nothing is embarrassing about reaching out and needing help,” Sparks said.
The drive continues Friday from noon to 5 p.m. at New Beginnings Worship Center on Broad Street in Summersville.
“Now just come out and help us out. You don’t have to donate blood to show up,” Stapleton said.
