Blood drive to reward donations with a pint BY VICTORIA HURLEY-SCHUBERT Staff Writer A regional blood drive to be held this weekend dubbed "A Pint for A Pint" and sponsored by Barfly magazine does not have the support of the Red Cross. Despite that, the organizer of the effort to supply critically needed blood says he is ready to proceed with the community event and say thank you to donors in a unique way. The Red Cross withdrew its endorsement of the "A Pint for A Pint" blood drive after questions about the message of the slogan were raised. Representatives of community groups expressed their thoughts about negative implications of the message, said Hillary Cummons, director of public affairs for the Jersey Coast Chapter of the Red Cross. "They didn't want us rewarding people will a pint of anything to get blood," Cummons said in explaining why the endorsement was pulled. "We don't want to downplay the good thing Barfly and the establishments wanted to do." Bob Byrne, the sales manager at Barfly, said he hopes the Red Cross will reconsider its decision because everything is set to go for the blood drive May 18-19. "If the Red Cross doesn't want to accept the blood, it's up to them. ... For them to pull the endorsement after six months of working with them is outrageous," he said. Byrne said, "Back in December I was riding around in my car making sales calls and I heard on the radio that the Red Cross is in desperate need of blood." He suggested that Barfly put together a program to encourage people to donate blood. Barfly will donate 10 percent of all advertising revenues generated through advertising for the blood donation program, in addition to the blood donations. People who have already registered to donate blood at specified locations this weekend will receive a chip that can be taken to a participating business and redeemed for a pint of their favorite beverage, whatever that may be. "Nowhere in the advertising do we say alcohol, beer or spirits. What we say is a pint for a pint," Byrne said. "The theme was to create a buzz and get people to talk about it, and obviously it worked." Byrne said he will seek out another agency to accept the blood donations if the Red Cross does not want to accept them. Barfly magazine, based in Manalapan, has a circulation of 25,000 in Monmouth County, northern Ocean County and Staten Island, N.Y. Byrne said more than 20 area restaurants have joined the campaign. "We are not promoting people to drink more," he said. "I can understand how some people may not like the idea, but we are not promoting the consumption of alcohol." Byrne said no restaurants have dropped out of the blood drive since the Red Cross dropped its endorsement. Rob Cash, the owner of the Metropolitan Cafe, Freehold Borough, said, "I don't think it encourages excessive drinking. It seems like a fun way [to promote] a good cause. My feeling was, I was doing it to benefit the Red Cross. I thought it was a neat angle and a cool way of promoting it and reaching out to people who wouldn't normally donate blood." Cash said he would still participate even without the Red Cross seal of approval. "I like to think of my pint glass as half full; people can find controversy in anything these days," he said. Dillies Pilevsky, the senior citizen representative on the Marlboro Township Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse, said she would not want to reward a person's good deed with alcohol. Pilevsky brought the blood drive to the attention of the Marlboro Township Council at the governing body's April 26 meeting.