SIDNEY — Area blood drive sponsors will host blood drives with a St. Patrick’s Day theme in March. Everyone who registers to donate will receive the new “Blood Donors ShamROCK!” T-shirt. Make an appointment online at www.DonorTime.com or call 800-388-GIVE.

Community Blood Center is asking donors to help sustain the area blood supply against the challenges of weather and illness in late winter and early spring. CBC is also seeking new platelet and plasma donors and providing more opportunities to donate platelets and plasma at community blood drives.

Platelets are the cells that control bleeding while plasma is the fluid that carries nutrients and proteins throughout the body. Both are vital for the treatment of cancer, trauma, organ transplant, and burn patients. New platelet donors are in high demand, especially those with blood types A, AB, or B positive. Find out more at www.GivingBlood.org or talk to an apheresis specialist at 937-461-3220.

Learn more at www.GivingBlood.org.

Connect with Community Blood Center for the latest information and services at www.GivingBlood.org. Get fast and complete answers on how to make your first donation, organize a blood drive, or bring our education program to your school. Get all the updates in the CBC/CTS newsroom, find quick links to our social media pages, or schedule your next appointment to donate by connecting to www.DonorTime.com.

Area blood drives include:

March 9, Wren’s Florist, Bellefontaine, 8 a.m. to noon

March 11, Alvetro Orthodontics, Sidney 2 to 6 p.m., community blood drive

March 13, Emerson, Sidney 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., employee blood drive

March 14, Emerson West, Sidney, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., employee blood drive

March 15, Graham High School, St. Paris 8 a.m,. to noon, student blood drive

March 15, Fairlawn High School, Sidney, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., student and community blood drive

March 19, American Legion, Sidney, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., community blood drive

March 20, Lehman High School, Sidney, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., student, parent and alumni blood drive

March 22, Bellefontaine Moose Lodge, Bellefontaine 8 a.m. to noon, community blood drive

March 26, Honda of America, Anna, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., employee blood drive

March 27, Mary Rutan Hospital, Bellefontaine, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., community blood drive

March 27, Honda of America, Anna, 4 to 8 p.m., employee blood drive

The Community Blood Center is honored to recognize the following “Donors for Life”:

• 275 donations, Connie Guillozet, Russia

• 200 donations: Jan Stockman, Fort Loramie

• 150 donations: Bruce Etzler, Anna

• 140 donations: Cynthia Replogle, Houston

• 130 donations: Wilson Monnin, Virginia Thompson, Sidney; Guy Demange, Yorkshire

• 135 donations: Kevin Sanders, Fort Loramie

• 125 donations: Mike Siegel, Fort Loramie

• 110 donations: Bruce Borchers, Russia; Tony Bornhorst, Fort Loramie

• 100 donations: Tim Hoying, McCartyville; Ann Kauffman, Sidney, Ray Bornhorst, Anna

• 90 donations: Leonard Albers, McCartyville

• 85 donations: Carl York, Russia

• 80 donations: Scott DeLoye, Fort Loramie

• 75 donations: Connie Snapp, Houston

• 70 donations: Mary Brulport, Sidney

• 50 donations: Myron Gaier, Fort Loramie; Diane Magoto, Russia; Gary Dues, Versailles

• 40 donations: Mark Gariety Covington; Randy Pleiman, Fort Loramie; Rhonda Wildermuth, Jackson Center; Charles Mayberry, Dan Knoop, Tabitha Hughes Sidney

• 30 donations: Laura Brandewie, New Bremen; Lisa Blagg, Fort Loramie, Erin Burmeister, Anna

• 25 donations, Julia Moeller, John Siegel, Vernon Siegel, Fort Loramie; Sean Higgins, Piqua; D J Heintz, Anna; Stacy Brinkman, Robert Jeffries, Sidney

• 20 donations: Julia Moore, Fort Loramie; Lori Jones, Anna

• 10 donations: Mark Winner, Minster; Gary Boerger, Fort Loramie; Clara Mae Leininger, Jackson Center; Ernest Crawford, Sidney; Richard Berning, Anna

• 5 donations: Mike Doseck, New Bremen; Rick Barhorst, Fort Loramie; Matthew Cooper, Jackson Center, Joan Oen, Sidney, Michael Case, Wapakoneta

Blood donation requirements: Donors are required to provide a photo ID that includes their full name. Past CBC donors are also asked to bring their CBC donor ID card. Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with parental consent: form available at www.givingblood.org or at CBC branch & blood drive locations), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds (you may have to weigh more, depending on your height), and be in good physical health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically. Individuals with eligibility questions are invited to email [email protected] or call 1(800)388-GIVE. Make an appointment at www.DonorTime.com.

Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services® is an independent, not-for-profit organization. Community Blood Center provides blood products to 25 hospitals and health centers within a 15-county service area in the Miami (Ohio) and Whitewater (Indiana) Valleys. For more information about Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services®, visit www.givingblood.org.