January is blood donor month, and LifeServe Blood Center is asking community members to recognize the lives saved through blood donations. Due to the recent winter weather, LifeServe reports that 2,295 lives will be affected, as canceling drives and adjusting hours or closing donor centers caused a loss of about 1,000 units. Blood donations serve people involved in significant blood loss, such as surgery or a major accident, conditions involving red blood cells like sickle cell disease, and cancer and cancer treatment patients. While all blood types are needed for donation, B- and O- are critically low and desperately need people with that blood type to donate. First United Methodist Church in Carroll is hosting a blood drive this Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. St Anthony Hospital wants to remind everyone that they host a blood drive every other month on the second Monday, with Feb. 12 being the next. To schedule a blood donation appointment, visit lifeservebloodcenter.org or by calling 800-287-4903.
