The American Red Cross held a blood drive in the Wal-Mart parking lot on Saturday. The blood drive was sponsored by the Demopolis Civitan Club.

“When the American Red Cross got ready to do a blood drive for Marengo County, Ivy Pittman from Red Cross contacted me to find a club that would sponsor the blood drive,” said Audrey Haskin, the Marengo County board member of the Black Belt chapter of the American Red Cross and a member of the Civitan Club. “Of course, I immediately thought of Civitan! I brought it to the Civitan group, and they agreed to sponsor today’s blood drive.”

The American Red Cross is always seeking people to donate blood when they can.

“We’re always in need of blood,” said charge nurse Rita Parker, the director of the Demopolis blood drive. “We can never get enough. Some people may use 75 or 100 pints, depending on their situation. Some people may need red blood cells, some people may need plasma and some people need platelets. People with cancer use a lot of platelets.”

A number of people making donations on Saturday were first-time givers.

“It went fine; I’m glad to have done it,” said Sharon Griffin, a first-time blood donor. “They gave me a little card that tells me when I can do this again, and I’ll be back.

“I have two sons in the service, they were both in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time this year, and realizing how big the demand was, I felt like the least I could do was give blood.”

People who may want to give blood but who are not sure if they can or not can go to a blood drive and find out if they are eligible to give blood or they can call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.

“People can call that number to find a blood drive in their area or to schedule an appointment,” Parker said.

People can find information about blood drives or donating blood online at www.montgomeryarc. org or www.americanredcross.org.