New this year anyone who texts WCIA to 999777 will receive a greeting and a link to signup at any of the six locations on December 27th.
Click below to schedule your appointment!
- Urbana Donor Center
- Market Place Shopping Center
- Danville Donor Center
- Mattoon Donor Center
- Hickory Point Mall
- Springfield Donor Center
Honoring Dave Benton & Robert Reese
$10 Gift Card for Donors!
Everyone who registers to give blood in the WCIA Gift of Life Blood Drive will receive a voucher which can be redeemed for a $10 Gift Card to the donor’s choice of Amazon, Casey’s General Stores or Starbucks.
Hospitals Served by this Drive: We are the SOLE provider of blood products to these hospitals!
-Carle Foundation Hospital (Urbana)
-OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center (Urbana)
-OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center (Danville)
-OSF HealthCare Saint Joseph Medical Center (Bloomington)
-Sarah Bush Hospital (Mattoon)
-HSHS St. Johns Hospital (Springfield)
-Memorial Medical Center (Springfield)
-Decatur Memorial Hospital (Decatur)
-HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital (Decatur)
-Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital (Lincoln)
-Taylorville Memorial Hospital (Taylorville)
Background
Here is a little background on WCIA Channel 3 and the 2 TV personalities who this drive is in honor of. Both of these individuals lost their very public battles with cancer.
-WCIA Channel 3: WCIA has been in operation since 1953 and is considered the “hometown” station for Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding areas. The viewing area for WCIA mirrors the CBSI and CICBC service areas with key audiences in Champaign/Urbana, Springfield, Danville and Mattoon. The station has a stellar reputation as being one of the most community driven and has sponsored many successful public service and charitable events throughout the year including: Operation Honor Guard (sending senior veterans to the war memorials in DC); A Day of Giving benefiting Big Bros. Big Sisters; Pounds for Pets (pet food drive), etc.
-Dave Benton: An Illinois television news anchor who continued to work while he struggled with brain cancer has died (May 2015). WCIA-TV news director Andy Miller said Dave Benton died Tuesday at home in Champaign. Benton was 52.
Benton in December told viewers he had been told he had four to six months to live but planned to work as long as possible. He left the air in April after more than nine years at the Champaign television station. Miller said hundreds of viewers sent Facebook comments mourning Benton to WCIA on Tuesday. Miller called Benton a model for working as a newsman and for handling terminal illness with grace. Benton is survived by a wife and two adult children. He grew up in Addison, a Chicago suburb, and graduated from Northern Illinois University.
-Robert Reese: In 2012 Robert Reese lost his battle with cancer. Robert was also regular blood donor. Robert actually found out that he had cancer after he had been deferred from donating blood on a few occasions at CBSI and was referred to a doctor. By doing this, Robert extended his life by being able to initially fight off the cancer he was diagnosed with. He was the chief meteorologist at WCIA in Champaign, Ill., died Tuesday night after battling pneumonia and cancer. He was 50. WCIA anchor Jennifer Roscoe announced the news on Wednesday evening’s newscast, saying, “It is with great sadness and heartbreak that I have to tell you this tonight. I hoped I never would.” She described Reese as “a weather geek, a music lover, a car nut and most importantly, our friend.” Reese, the morning and noon meteorologist, was last on the air in early September. His Facebook page was flooded with comments and memories from WCIA viewers Thursday morning.
