Blood drives planned in Hamburg, Vernon

New Jersey Blood Services will host blood drives in the area on Friday, May 16, and Thursday, May 22.

Friday's drive will be at Wallkill Valley Regional High School, 10 Grumm Road, Hamburg, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. and the May 22 event will be at Glen Meadow Middle School in Vernon from 3-9 p.m.

Each and every day there are patients — some who arrive in emergency rooms and others undergoing cancer treatment — who depend on the transfusion of red blood cells, platelets and plasma to stay alive. But blood can’t be manufactured. It can only come from volunteer blood donors who take an hour to attend a blood drive or visit a donor center.

For more information on donating or how to organize a blood drive, call 1-800-933-2566 or visit www.nybloodcenter.com.