To keep your New Year’s resolution to be more compassionate and helpful toward others this year, consider that the Red Cross is in need of blood donations.

“National Blood Donor Month this January is the perfect time to resolve to be a regular blood donor and help save lives,” said Christy Peters, American Red Cross external communications manager. “Blood and platelet donations often decline during the holidays as people get busy with holiday activities and travel. In addition, winter weather can force the cancellation of blood drives and seasonal illnesses often make it difficult for the American Red Cross to maintain a sufficient blood supply at this time of year.”

“January is a time to remind donors of the constant need for blood, following a difficult collection period,” she said.

The Red Cross, through blood drives, supports local hospitals first, so Mahoning Valley donations help save Mahoning Valley lives.

“One pint of blood saves three lives,” said Karen Conklin, executive director of the Red Cross Lake to River Chapter in Liberty.

People can donate one pint of blood about every two and a half months.

There are more than two dozen places to donate blood this month, including churches, libraries and Youngstown State University.

The First United Methodist Church in Girard, where Cindy Phillips of Hubbard donates, has a blood drive every other month so donors can keep track of when to donate.

George Eicher has donated blood at this church more than 100 times.

“I donate every 56 days,” Eicher said. “I do it to generally save lives, but I remember that my father, about 15 years ago, was in surgery for quite a while, so I keep doing it for that too.”

Unlike Eicher, Cindy Bohach, who has been organizing the blood drive for years with her family, finally conquered her fear of donating.

“I overcame my fear. I’m very thankful I did and I will do it every few months from now on,” Bohach said. As a first-time donor, Bohach spoke to the collection technicians who explained the process to her and assured her that it was going to be OK.

“One stick and it was over before I knew it,” she said.

The Red Cross has an urgent need for donors of all types to give blood. Type O donors are especially needed. In the Northern Ohio Region, which covers 19 counties, including Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana, approximately 500 pints of blood are needed every day to meet the needs of patients at more than 50 local hospitals, Peters explained.

“Across the country, the Red Cross must collect more than 2,600 platelet donations and nearly 13,000 blood donations every day for patients at about 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide.”

She said the need for blood is constant and the Red Cross strives to always maintain a strong local blood supply. Emergencies requiring large amounts of donated blood can happen at any time.

“The Red Cross wants to have blood on the shelves now, to be prepared for those types of situations,” she said.

A blood transfusion is the fourth- most common inpatient hospital procedure in the U.S., and this blood can only come from volunteer blood donors. Peters added only three out of 100 people in the U.S. give blood.

Type O, as Peters said, is especially needed. Type O negative is the universal blood type and what emergency personnel reach for in trauma situations when there isn’t time to determine a patient’s blood type. Type O positive is the most transfused blood type and can be transfused to patients of any blood type.

“Everyone probably knows someone who needs blood,” said Phillips. “It is so important to donate.”

To find a donation location near you, go to www.redcrossblood.org/give. The Red Cross also has an app that can help donors schedule and manage their donation appointments, track the lifetime impact of their donations and recruit others to donate.

bshiller@tribtoday.com