The Van Duzer Foundation

Be A Hero 2012

A couple of years ago, our founder, Scott Van Duzer, learned about two little boys in desperate need of blood to combat different types of cancer. Because of a shortage of blood, one of the boys had to wait nine hours in an emergency room for life-saving blood to arrive. This was more than Scott could bear, and he challenged the Van Duzer Foundation board to host a blood drive, partnering with Florida’s Blood Centers. Over 300 pints was collected at the first drive, which was followed up shortly thereafter with the inaugural Be a Hero Day, which garnered over 1,000 pints of blood. The Foundation has encouraged and hosted several drives since, and a total of over 5,500 pints of blood has been collected. Since each blood donation is separated into components, such as red blood cells, platelets and plasma, the blood collected through the Van Duzer Foundation has impacted over 15,000 people!

This year, the Van Duzer Foundation is delighted to partner with a number of wonderful local businesses and organizations to present Be a Hero Day 2012 on Wednesday, November 14th. Among those who will be rolling up sleeves and encouraging staff, customers, and community to donate together to save lives will be sixty teams comprised of businesses, clubs, organizations, and groups in the community who want to help raise awareness about the importance of donating blood, including last year’s Be a Hero Day Blood Bowl winner, Indian River State College. 

For the past four years, the Van Duzer Foundation has found unique ways for everyone to positively impact the community and has raised and donated over $650,000 to St. Lucie County residents in need. The Foundation is equally committed to saving lives through the donation of the most important natural resource – life. We’d love for you to consider participating in this year’s Be a Hero Day Blood Drive on Wednesday, November 14th. Whether you come as a team to donate blood, or whether you come as an individual to give back to the community and honor the memory or courage of someone you know who has needed blood, we welcome your participation and support. Each of us has the power to become a hero – let’s celebrate that and show the world that St. Lucie County is full of heroes. For additional information on how you can become involved call Scott Van Duzer at (772) 528-346