UCLA scheduled to host blood drive today
The University of California, Los Angeles is hosting a blood drive on Friday at Christ Lutheran Church.
The drive will go from 1:15 to 6:15 p.m. Interested participants can go to Classrooms 9 and 10, with walk-ins welcomed, said Deborah Alter, the community liaison for the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.
Anyone who donates will receive a free Regal Cinemas movie ticket, Alter said. Appointments can be made by calling 661-259-0200.
UCLA last hosted a blood drive in August. Alter said that blood is needed year round.
“We always tell people it’s important to donate throughout the year,” she said. “No matter what season it is, we always need blood to help those in need 365 days a year.”
The blood donated allows the center to use a mobile platelet-collection program the hospital created.
The new treatment approved by the FDA last year, “is the equivalent of ‘giving patients a living drug,’” according to Dr. Renier J. Brentjens of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Anyone interested in setting up a blood drive in Santa Clarita to help out with the blood shortage can contact the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center at 310-825-0888 ext. 2, or via email at gotblood@mednet.ucla.edu.
Interested participants can check their eligibility at www.uclahealth.org/gotblood.
Christ Lutheran Church is located at 25816 North Tournament Road in Valencia.