Todd Laux, Tim Nelson and Tadd Middleton are together during the Nelly Strong Pride Fitness Blood Drive.

The Nelly Strong Pride Fitness Blood Drive doubled last year’s totals for those donating with 93 participating at Cornerstone Church Gym on Monday.

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The blood drive was coordinated by Todd Laux, owner of Pride Fitness. He has the blood drive every year as a tribute to one of his best friends, Tim Nelson, who nearly bled to death before he was diagnosed with cancer.

A total of 91 pints of blood were donated.

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“It was highly successful,” Laux said. “It shows how much people support and appreciate Tim. He has done a lot of things and given back to every single kid he has coached. It is good to support someone who is so supportive of others.”

Nelson is someone that would do anything he could to help someone else, Laux said. Nelson was both thrilled and humbled at the amount of people who turned out to donate blood.

“It is very important to me to help people at this stage of my life,” Nelson said. “That has been my message since I became sick is to try to give back and make a difference.

"Todd and I have been friends since high school. We thought about a good way to give back and we thought this is a good way especially because blood donations are needed after the holidays. We are going to move forward and try to do this every year.”

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Nelly Strong Pride Fitness Blood Drive