American Red Cross schedules several Hi-Line blood drives

The American Red Cross will hold blood drives along the Hi-Line next week.

The schedule is:

• Monday, Nov. 3, St. Jude Parish Center, noon-5:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, Nov. 4, Wallner Hall, Chinook, 1-6 p.m.

• Tuesday, Nov. 4, Harlem High School, 2-6 p.m.

• Wednesday, Nov. 5, Montana State University-Northern Student Union ballroom, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Thursday, Nov, 6, American Lutheran Church, Turner, 1-5 p.m.

American Red Cross encourages donors to make a blood donation before the holiday season.

Blood donations often decline between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day as people become busy with holiday festivities. Donors are needed in the weeks leading up to the winter holidays to help prevent these seasonal declines. Donors of all blood types, and especially those with types O negative, A negative and B negative, are needed now to help maintain a stable blood supply.

Blood donation appointments can be made through the Red Cross Blood Donor App — a faster, more convenient way to schedule and manage donation appointments, especially for donors on the go. The app also allows users to track donation histories, earn rewards and invite others to join them on a lifesaving team. The app is free and available for download in app stores.

Each day, the Red Cross in Montana collects approximately 155 units of blood to distribute to patients at around 30 hospitals and transfusion centers in Montana.

Any healthy person age 18 — or age 16 or 17 with signed parental consent — or older and weighing at least 110 pounds be eligible to donate blood. Valid identification is required for all blood donations.

To donate blood at the upcoming Havre community blood draw Nov. 3 from noon to 5:30 p.m. at St. Jude Thaddeus Church, call The American Red Cross at 1-800-695-7258  or sign up online at http://wwwredcrossblood.org sponsor code havre.