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Blood Assurance is Looking for the Top Tomato

Blood Assurance has been providing a safe blood supply in Chattanooga and 47 other counties since 1973. Prior to that time, people in need of blood had to rely on friends and relatives. In addition to ensuring a plentiful supply of whole blood, Blood Assurance also distributes plasma and blood platelets, primarily to cancer patients. It was the parents of a cancer patient who established the Blood Assurance Foundation. The foundation gives scholarships to local high school seniors every year. This year, to raise money for the foundation, Blood Assurance is hosting the Top Tomato competition. In this interview, Bonnie Phillips from Blood Assurance talks about the event they call a “friend raiser.”

From a media release:

The Top Tomato Bloody Mary Tasting Contest will be held at the Chattanooga Market, inside the First Tennessee Pavilion, this Sunday, July 27, 2014 in conjunction with the Tomato Festival. Proceeds benefit the Blood Assurance Foundation.

The contestants competing for prizes are:

  1. The Flying Squirrel
  2. Terminal Brewhouse
  3. Easy Bistro & Bar
  4. Taco Mamacita
  5. Community Pie
  6. Beast + Barrel
  7. The Honest Pint
  8. Hair of the Dog Pub
  9. Sheraton Read House - Porter’s Steakhouse
  10. 212 Market Restaurant
  11. Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar
  12. Abuelo’s
  13. Tupelo Honey Cafe
  14. Doubletree’s H2O Bar
  15. St. John’s Restaurant & Meeting Place 

Participants are vying to win the People’s Choice award and Top Tomato award. The People’s Choice award is decided upon by ticket purchasers who vote on which Bloody Mary they deem the best. Top Tomato will be decided upon by a panel of local celebrity judges. The judges are: Barry & Kelley Courter from the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chloe Morrison from Nooga.com, Chip Chapman from WDEF News 12, Kelly McCoy from KZ 106 and Chris Thomas from the Chattanooga Market. 5 tastings are a $20 donation. Non-alcoholic tastings will be available for a $5 donation. Tickets can be purchased at www.TopTomato.EventBrite.com

The Blood Assurance Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was established in 1999. It serves a 47 county region and supports the Crystal Green Memorial Scholarship fund, the Excellence in Education high school grant program, and Be the Match marrow registry.

For more information about its programs or to partner with the Blood Assurance Foundation, please contact Linda Hisey, Executive Director of Media Relations & Development at 1-800-962-0628 or LindaHisey@BloodAssurance.org. More information can also be found at www.BloodAssurance.org/contribute.

Richard Winham joined WUTC five years after the station began broadcasting to the Chattanooga area and the Tennessee Valley.
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