Blood Drives In Cherry Hill Set For October

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The American Red Cross will hold a pair of blood drives in Cherry Hill next month. They will take place as follows:

• 10/7/2019: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., Trinity Presbyterian Church, 499 E. Route 70; and
• 10/11/2019: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., Virtua Health and Wellness Center, 1 Brace Road.

The American Red Cross urges people of all races and ethnicities to give blood or platelets to help increase the diversity of the blood supply. The vast majority of blood types fall into one of the major blood groups.

However, for patients with rare blood types or those who receive regular blood transfusions, blood must be matched closely — beyond the primary A, B, O and AB blood types — to reduce the risk of developing complications from transfusion therapy, according to the Red Cross. The best match may be someone of the same racial or ethnic group, the Red Cross said.

Appointments can be made by downloading the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.

Anyone who donates blood anytime in October will automatically be entered for a chance to win one of five $500 gift cards redeemable at hundreds of merchants, courtesy of Tango Card. For more information, visit rcblood.org/game.