Christ Lutheran Church is hosting a UCLA blood drive on Friday.
The drive will go from 1:15 to 6:15 p.m. Interested participants can go to Classrooms 9 and 10, with walk-ins welcome, said Deborah Alter, the community liaison for the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.
Appointments can be made by calling 661-259-0200.
The city of Santa Clarita is partnering with the American Red Cross this week to ease their ongoing blood shortage, and offering more opportunities throughout August.
Prospective donors can go to City Hall on Thursday to donate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Century Room. Interested donors can register in advance online at redcrossblood.org with the sponsor code cityofsantaclarita, although walk-ins are also welcome.
There will also be a volunteer blood drive on Thursday at the Henry Mayo Fitness and Health Center from noon to 6 p.m., hosted by College of the Canyons student Melissa Hollinger.
National statistics from the American Red Cross show that every two seconds someone needs a unit of blood, said Christine Welch, a Pomona-based American Red Cross Blood Services spokeswoman.
Particularly Type O blood is needed, according to the national website.
UCLA last hosted a blood drive at Real Life Church on Feb. 13.
The blood donated allows the center to use a mobile platelet-collection program the hospital created.
The new treatment approved by the FDA last year, “is the equivalent of ‘giving patients a living drug,’” according to Dr. Renier J. Brentjens of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Anyone interested in setting up a blood drive in Santa Clarita to help out with the blood shortage can contact the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center at 310-825-0888 ext. 2, or via email at [email protected]
Christ Lutheran Church is located at 25816 North Tournament Road in Valencia.
Santa Clarita will have further opportunities to donate through the Red Cross at the Old West Masonic Lodge and Best Buy on Bouquet Canyon Road.
The dates for the Old West Masonic Lodge will be Aug. 8 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Aug. 15 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Best Buy will be a donation site on Aug. 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
