The Shepeard Community Blood Center is hoping to round up donors during the summer months, a part of the year when blood donation is at its lowest.
Shepeard welcomes people with all blood types, especially now, to its three area donation centers - located in Aiken, Evans, Georgia, and Augusta, its main office location.
"People go on vacations and tend to get off their normal giving schedule," said Suzanne Fanning, advertising and communications manager of Shepeard's Augusta center, about the drop in blood donations.
The centers are hoping to find people who have O negative blood, because O negative blood is a "universal donor," Fanning said.
No matter a person's blood type, they can receive O negative blood when in need, Fanning said.
The number of people in America with O negative blood has recently decreased from 9 to 7 percent, Fanning said. Because of this and the time of the year, the blood centers are seeing their supply of "universal donor" blood decrease rapidly.
According to Shepeard's website, donors must be "healthy individuals who weigh at least 110 pounds and are 17 years and older, or are 16 years old with written parental consent." A donor must also have an iron, or hemoglobin, level of 12.5 or higher.
Fanning is hoping that people who know that they are carrying O negative blood and believe they meet the requirements will make their way to one of Shepeard's locations.
The Aiken center, located at 353 Fabian Drive, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
If residents can't make it to one of the blood centers, Shepeard's bloodmobile may be an option.
It will be visiting University Hospital and Doctor's Hospital in Augusta today. The bloodmobile will accept donations at University from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at Doctor's from noon to 5 p.m.
On Wednesday, the bloodmobile will visit Dupont Landing from 3 to 6 p.m.
It will make two stops Saturday at the Augusta Mall, accepting donations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church from 4 to 7 p.m.
On Sunday, it will return to St. Mary's from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., and donations also will be accepted at the St. Paul Lutheran Church from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For more information on how to donate blood, where to find the bloodmobile and other general blood donation information, visit shepeardblood.org.
Also, visit the Shepeard Community Blood Center Facebook page.
Charnita Mack is an intern at the Aiken Standard. She is a senior journalism major at the University of South Carolina.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article included the incorrect hours of operation at the Aiken center. The Aiken Standard regrets the error.