A Carter BloodCare employee prepares for a mobile blood drive at the Jacksonville McDonald’s in April. (file photo)

Local blood drives are planned in Tyler over the weekend and Monday.

According to Carter BloodCare, blood donations tend to drop over the holidays and are especially needed during this season.

“When you give blood, you save lives by ensuring hospital patients receive the transfusions they need during the holidays and every day,” Carter BloodCare said in a news release. “All blood types are needed for a safe and sufficient blood supply. When a person donates whole blood every two months, two or three times a year, there is seldom a blood shortage. Sadly, these donors are only a fraction of those eligible to give.”

Carter BloodCare also encourages donors to bring a friend who wants to donate blood also, to help reverse the seasonal trend of low blood supply.

Upcoming blood drives in Tyler:

• Historic Aviation Memorial Museum, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, 150 Airport Dr., in the parking lot of Tyler Pounds Regional Airport on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Lou Thomas at (903) 526-1945.
• Green Acres Baptist Church, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, 1607 Troup Hwy., in the parking lot on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact the church office at (903) 525-1100.
• South Tyler Rotary #1883, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, 4202 S. Broadway Ave., in the parking lot of First Christian Church on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Jarad Kent at (903) 352-1785.

Donors can complete the medical history questionnaire online on the day of donation, before arriving to give blood. People with and without COVID-19 vaccinations are both eligible to donate blood.

Carter BloodCare staff and unvaccinated donors are required to wear facial coverings at blood drives or donation centers, except when temperature is taken during screening, or when eating and drinking after the donation. Vaccinated donors are strongly encouraged to continue wearing masks. Carter BloodCare will comply with required mask mandates, as applicable.

Potential blood donors may volunteer at age 16 with parental consent; 17-year-olds can give independently and there is no upper age limit.

For more information or to make an appointment, call or text 800-366-2834 or visit CarterBloodCare.org.

Donors who donate blood with Carter BloodCare now through Jan. 7 will be automatically entered in a random drawing for a 2021 Chevrolet Spark. To see the complete rules, visit carterbloodcare.org/cargiveaway.

Carter BloodCare is an independent, community blood center providing transfusion resources to more than 180 medical facilities in 50-plus counties of North, Central and East Texas. The nonprofit organization is one of the largest blood programs in Texas.