Friends 4 Life pledge to donate blood four or more times per year.

More than 400 whole blood donations are needed daily to save lives in VBS' service area. The components of whole blood - red cells, platelets and plasma - are essential to meet specific patient needs. A traffic accident might send hemorrhaging victims to emergency rooms. A newborn baby might need immediate surgery to correct a birth defect. A patient who has been on a waiting list for months or years might have a chance for a lifesaving organ transplant. A burn patient, whose life hangs in balance, must have transfusions to live.

Donors can give whole blood every 56 days, or, via automation, can give two red cell products in a single donation every 112 days. As one can give double red cells only three times per year, each donation counts for two in the Friends 4 Life pledge. And, of course, donors are encouraged also to make single donor platelet donations as part of their commitment.

Donors must visit the website www.vbsrewards.com to register for the program.