Give blood in April at Sumter, Shaw sites and be entered in 'Game of Thrones' sweepstakes

Blood and platelet donations to the American Red Cross are always welcome and encouraged, but the organization is making an extra push during April's National Volunteer Month by involving the HBO show "Game of Thrones."

Donors with all blood types are needed - especially type O - to ensure blood products are available for patients this spring, and there are upcoming blood drives in Sumter and the surrounding area.

Nearly half of the public knows someone who has been helped by a blood transfusion. For many volunteer blood donors, like Gail Wright, that personal connection serves as inspiration to give, according to a news release.

Wright's brother was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in 1982 and needed several blood transfusions during his four-month recovery, the release said. She lived more than 120 miles away at the time. Unable to be near him, she decided she could help by donating blood.

She has continued to donate and recently completed her 11th gallon of donated blood, the release said - 88 life-saving donations.

Volunteer donors are the only source of blood products for those in need of transfusions, and the Red Cross currently has a severe shortage of type O blood donations and urges those with type O to give now.

To celebrate the final season of "Game of Thrones," HBO and the Red Cross have partnered to encourage fans and donors to show their bravery and valor by bleeding "ForTheThrone."

Many answered the call to give earlier this year, and much like the show, embarking on its final season, the fight for the living isn't over.

Those who donate by April 30 will automatically be entered for a chance to win a full-size Iron Throne from the show. All presenting donors April 11-30 will receive a commemorative Bleed For The Throne poster while supplies last and will be entered in the sweepstakes.

Make an appointment by downloading the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting www.redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.

blood donation opportunities:

Rembert

- April 9 - 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Thomas Sumter Academy, 5265 Camden Highway

Shaw Air Force Base

- April 10 - 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Component Maintenance Squadron Shaw AFB, 558 Killian Ave., 20 CMS Squadron Building

- April 25 - 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Shaw BX Exchange Building, 370 Rhodes Ave., Building 1403

Sumter

- April 19 - 11 a.m.-4 p.m., USC Sumter Arts & Letters Building, 109 Miller Road

- April 24 - 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, 129 N. Washington St.

- April 25 - 2-7 p.m., Grace Baptist Church, 219 W. Calhoun St.

- April 29 - noon-5 p.m., Alice Drive Middle School, 40 Miller Road

- April 30 - 8:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Lakewood High School, 350 Old Manning Road