Rescue Squad Holding Blood Drive, Tackling the 'Super Q' Burger on Friday

After the Fair Lawn Rescue Squad attracted an average of 20-22 donors to its previous blood drives, the group is trying to draw a bigger crowd this year by pitting the borough's emergency responders against each other in a race to scarf down as much of a two-pound hamburger as possible.

Towards the end of the rescue squad's blood drive from 4-8 p.m. at 16-01 Romaine St. on Friday, Quilly's Gourmet Sliders is sponsoring an eating contest at 7:30 p.m. Members of the rescue squad, the Fair Lawn Amublance Corps, and the Fair Lawn Volunteer Fire Department will try to conquer the "Super Q," a new menu item that Quilly's is officially introducing at the competition.

Quilly's will weigh the amount each responder has eaten in a still to-be-announced amount of time to determine the winner, Quilliam said. The Super Q will soon be available to Quilly's customers in sizes ranging from one to four pounds, Quilliam said, but on Friday the emergency responders will tackle the two-pound version consisting of 16 hamburger patties; carmelized onions; jalapeño's; American, Swiss, cheddar, and fresh mozzarella cheeses; rémoulade sauce; and chipotle ketchup–all on one massive roll.

The restaurant will also be providing free slider (mini sandwich) samples to audience members at the event. The rescue squad will be asking for donations to benefit Paramus-based Community Blood Services, a not-for-profit organization that supplies blood and blood products to more than 30 hospitals in the New Jersey/New York area, said Eric Van Kruiningen, chief of the rescue squad.

The rescue squad has been running blood drives for the last five years, with one in the spring and one in the fall. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 281 previously ran Fair Lawn's blood drive each year, but due to a lack of donors Van Kruiningen said "I reached out to Community Blood Services and I never looked back," making the event an annual staple for the rescue squad.

"We decided as an organization that the gift of life is through blood," Van Kruiningen said.

Van Kruiningen said that "the call for these [blood drives] are at an all-time high" in North Jersey because Bergen and Passaic counties have just five major hospitals to serve over 1 million residents. For people who need donations, "there's often times when it gets down to a day's worth [of blood], or two days' worth," he said.

The blood drives also serve as valuable education for the rescue squad, Van Kruiningen said.

"As you host drives, you get to know more and more facts," he said.

Eating the 16-pattie, two-pound Super Q should be a stiff challenge for the emergency responders judging by the results of a Sept. 26 contest held by Quilly's in which the winner struggled to complete 16 individual sliders, Quilliam said.

The restaurant is introducing the Super Q–with prices ranging from $12 for the one-pounder to $38 for the four-pounder–or the specific purpose of convincing Adam Richman of the Travel Channel's "Man v. Food" program to try his hand at the four-pounder, Quilliam said.

The Sept. 26 eating contest at Quilly's benefited the borough's food pantry, and the restaurant has done other charitable work on behalf of Fair Lawn High School student activities and the borough's various volunteer services.

"We don't say no to anything in town," Quilliam said.

For the blood drive, all donors must be at least 17 years old and have a photo ID.  Walk-ins are welcome. Donors are asked to park in the Fair Lawn High School Parking Lot. For more information, visit www.fairlawnrescue.com.