Assistant State Attorney Sam Garrison gets ready to give Beth The Pig a big kiss while Public Defender Matt Shirk and his kids look on. Garrison’s office was competing against Shirk’s in a blood drive competition to benefit The Blood Alliance which serves Northeast Florida.
During consecutive weeks in January, the two offices engaged in a friendly competition to see which could produce the most donated blood and which office holder would avoid “kissing a pig.” Shirk’s office won and since Corey was working on the DuBose murder trials, Garrison kissed Beth in her place during the Feb. 13 JU basketball game at the Arena.
“I applaud and thank all of those on our staff and who participated in our drive, but I also appreciate the efforts made by our competition,” said Shirk. “The real winners here are the patients in our local clinics and hospitals; because of our contest, we have helped The Blood Alliance keep larger levels of inventory which is especially hard during winter months.”