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NEWS RELEASE

August 18, 2009

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Ulman’s “Summer of Service” Nears Completion

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Ken Ulman is pleased to announce that only a few spots remain for this Saturday’s American Red Cross Blood Drive to earn one of the last tickets to the upcoming Virgin Mobile FreeFest as part of the Executive’s “Summer of Service” (SOS) program. The blood drive is being held at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way in Columbia from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I need to say a personal thanks to the hundreds of people who have given their time and service to our program,” said Executive Ulman. “Our goal was to motivate people to volunteer in their community. Hopefully many of these volunteers enjoyed their experience and will continue to give back to the community in the future.”

SOS is a unique summer-long volunteer program giving individuals a chance to serve their community in exchange for a ticket to the “freed-out” Virgin Mobile FreeFest, this summer’s hottest concert. Virgin Mobile USA and Merriweather Post Pavilion generously donated tickets to Howard County back in June for the August 30th freed-out show. Tickets were distributed to various Howard County non-profits with volunteer opportunities, as well as to the American Red Cross and to statewide programs.

In Howard County, service opportunities ranged from cleaning up County parks and washing senior citizens’ cars to building blue bird boxes, painting therapeutic horse-riding equipment and teaching kids bike safety. In addition, individuals could earn a ticket by donating blood at designated sites set up for the Summer of Service program. The American Red Cross in Maryland originally contacted Ulman in desperate need for blood donors; one pint of blood donated has the potential of saving as many as three lives.

“This unique partnership has helped the American Red Cross get the word out about the critical need for blood donations, particularly during the summer months,” said A. Ray Charles, Howard County representative for The American Red Cross, Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Blood Service Region. “The County Executive’s Summer of Service Program made a big difference to our blood drive this summer, a time when blood donations are historically at their lowest. The offer of a ticket to the Virgin Mobile FreeFest in exchange for a blood donation was certainly a catalyst and attracted an unusually high number of first-time donors. The Red Cross was able to collect approximately 600 units of blood that have the potential of saving 1,800 lives. I want to thank Ken Ulman for his great idea, and also thank everyone who gave so generously.”

Those interested in donating blood at this Saturday’s Blood Drive, can register on-line by visiting http://sos.howardcountymd.gov, clicking on the “Click Here to Volunteer” link and then clicking on “Register Now” button.