Mother, sisters of Corey Comperatore host blood drive in his honor
Karen Shafer Bird, the mother of the man who was killed at the Trump rally shooting, knew how she wanted to honor her son: she wanted to host a blood drive.
“You have those visions in your head that had things turned out differently, my son was going to need a lot of blood,” Bird said. “I’m a nurse, so I know we never have enough blood and I thought this was a nice way to honor him and help heal my heart.”
Now, with the help of her daughters, Kelly (Comperatore) Meeder and Dawn (Comperatore) Schafer, as well as a partnership with Vitalant, that dream has come true. The “Everyday Heroes” drive will be hosted on April 12 and 13 at Laube Hall in Freeport.
Nine months ago, shots were fired at the Butler Farm Show grounds, leaving President Donald Trump and other attendees injured. Corey Comperatore, a former chief at Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department, was killed by gunfire.
“My brother was taken from us. He wasn’t terminally ill. He wasn’t sick. He was stolen from us,” Meeder said.
While the wounds of grief still feel fresh, the three women said organizing the drive have helped them process Corey’s death.
“It has helped me from the very beginning. It was something that gave me a little bit of purpose to work on,” Bird said. “I just needed to do something. I could not do anything for my son.”
One reason behind choosing a blood drive was to avoid hosting any type of fundraiser.
“I think what’s hard when asking people to donate their blood is very different from a charity,” Schafer said. “With a charity, people say ‘I’m going to give $20 and it’s going to go to the veterans.’ When you donate blood, you don’t know who is getting it, but I guarantee you the recipient is thankful.”
Vitalant, an organization that provides donated blood to hospitals, partnered with the family to host the blood drive both in person and through a nationwide virtual blood drive. Six hospitals will receive blood from the in-person drive, including UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“Vitalant depends on the generosity of a variety of community groups and individuals who host blood drives to help maintain an always ready blood supply for patients and we welcomed this request from family members to facilitate this blood drive,” Maya Santana, communications manager for Vitalant, said. “It takes all of us to help ensure blood is available for patients before it’s needed.”
Looking ahead, the family hopes to host more drives in Corey’s honor in the future. Their idea is to set it to be on Father’s Day annually.
“We would really like to see the community turn out. The whole community really was affected by this. It’s the Butler community and that community is very tight knit,” Meeder said. “My brother served his community and we’re hoping that the community he served will come out and honor him.”
