This is me and my best friend, Lisa Morin, at the blood drive yesterday. We go way back. I met her 15 years ago when she started working at UMaine. As she's done an amazing job building up Black Bear Exchange I've pitched in as a volunteer--sort of a Robin to her Batman. I have learned so much in those years. We love and are big fans of each other's kids. I think two things make our friendship special. We care very much about helping the students have what they need to thrive. And we are our actual for better and worse selves together. No pretenses. In my mind shared passions and honesty are the gold standard of friendship. 

The second day of the blood drive was amazing. Everyone was extremely sociable--much more so than usual. It was like a 7 hour party. We exceeded our goal by 10 units. And nobody fainted. 

A great big shout out goes out to all who participated. 

Jules Hathaway 

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