Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City was buzzing with activity

Wednesday afternoon as Boy Scout Troop 175 and the American Red Cross held

a blood drive and bone marrow test and registration drive.

The event was the Eagle Scout project for Peachtree City resident Brett

Bartels, 16, who made a lot of phone calls to coordinate the event with the

American Red Cross and secure funding for the bone marrow testing.

Bartels, a rising junior at Our Lady of Mercy High School, attends church

at Holy Trinity. He and 14 of his colleagues from Troop 175, which is based

out of Peachtree City United Methodist Church, set up a large room with the

donation area, the registration area and the always important refreshment

area filled with juice, donuts, cookies and other refreshments.

Ninety-five people had registered to make a blood donation and, according

to Bartels, many of them had also registered to have the bone marrow test

done as well. Bartels was also impressed by the number of walk-ins the event

had. Though he is currently too young to give blood himself, Bartels plans

on giving blood in several months when he turns 17.

98 units of blood were collected and 84 bone marrow donors were placed on

the national bone marrow registry free of charge, thanks largely to a donation

drives held at the church.

Anyone interested in donating blood to contact the Red Cross to register

for a nearby blood drive by calling 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.