Donate Blood: A Heartfelt Guide to the Lexington Barbecue Festival
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Barbecue Festival - Red Cross Blood Drive
By Antionette Kerr
Each October, Lexington’s streets fill with the unmistakable scent of smoke and history. The Lexington Barbecue Festival draws about 150,000 visitors downtown—most from out of town, all chasing that perfect bite of slow-cooked tradition.
But each year, between the food tents and music stages, something quieter—and just as vital—is happening: a Red Cross Blood Drive at the J. Smith Young YMCA Event Center, 119 W. 3rd Ave., from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Donors will receive a Red Cross T-shirt, a $10 e-gift card, and a voucher for a free BBQ Center sandwich—redeemable at the festival’s BBQ Tent on Main & 3rd Avenue, right between First Presbyterian Church and the legendary sand sculpture.
The American Red Cross reports that:
Someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds.
About 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day.
Only about 3% of eligible Americans donate.
The Red Cross supplies roughly 40% of the nation’s blood supply.
Those aren’t just numbers—they’re lives. And one of them was mine.
Shortly after last year’s festival, when the crowds had gone home and the smell of barbecue still clung to downtown, I needed a second blood transfusion. It wasn’t planned, and it wasn’t pretty. But it kept me here.
So this year, when I saw that the festival was hosting a blood drive, it struck home. Someone else’s quiet generosity—someone who gave without knowing where it would go—made it possible for me to walk these streets again, to write these words, to taste the smoke and the sweetness of survival.
Blood donation isn’t glamorous. There are no ribbons, no selfies, no applause. But each pint can save up to three lives.
While most people line up for barbecue plates and live music, a few doors down at the YMCA, neighbors will be rolling up their sleeves. In the time it takes to grab a sandwich and snap a photo, someone’s gift of blood will begin another person’s story of healing.
So before you head for the festival gates, consider making one more stop. Sign up at RedCrossBlood.org using sponsor code BBQ—or walk in and give.
Because around here, barbecue feeds the body—but community, the people who show up quietly with rolled sleeves and open hearts, that’s what keeps us all standing.
