8:30 p.m. update: The final number of people tested - an awesome 844! I hear that many more came to test and were unable to for health reasons or age reasons. If you count them, it is quite possible our goal of 1,000 was met! Thank you coordinators and volunteers for all your work. Thank you to all those who came. 5:00 p.m. -- The devoted volunteers showed up to prepare for the drive at 6:30 a.m., and have gone nonstop ever since! It is 5:01 p.m. as I write this, and by all reports My Friend Hallie was a huge success. Over 700 people tested at my last report around 4:40 p.m., and people still in line to be tested. The tireless volunteers working all day instead of just one shift and working several jobs instead of just one table. I will log in to update with a final count when I get one. Thank you to all those who worked tirelessly and all those who came to be tested. Randy and Lisa Cory, make no mistake, were the organizers, the brains behind the campaign. We have heard that everything was so organized and so smooth, people were very impressed! Frederick and Tonja Huenefeld were the angels who made it possible too with all their efforts raise the money and get the word out. And the precious Allums family who put all their prayer into this and have been getting the word out, and there today too, working all day long. You guys are all amazing! Thank you! Here are Beth Ann, Hallie, Clint, Corbin, Nathan, and me! Stuck in Memphis. Can you believe we all planned to come to the drive, wanted so badly to be there, and at the last minute Corbin's counts were 200, then Miss Hallie's whose counts had been up were also exactly 200! I guess the Lord knew we needed to rest this weekend to get ready for next week, so He in His wisdom gave us no choice! I am hearing wonderful stories about the drive - about people showing up in even more numbers who could not be tested for age or health reasons but still wanted to pay $25. About the different ways potential donors heard about the drive and why they wanted to come. If you were there, please let the Gravelles and Allums know your story or testimony from the drive by signing into the guestbook and sharing your impression. We couldn't be there, and we would just love to hear what it was like.
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