The 10th annual St. Louis Jewish Community Blood Drive will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29 at Young Israel, 8101 Delmar Blvd. in University City.

In conjunction with the blood drive there will be a food drive to benefit the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. Suggested items are canned fruit, canned vegetables and pasta.

The drive was started by Bob and Judy Hellman as a chesed project that everyone in the community can participate in and benefit from.  

Organizers noted in a news release that blood transfusions are no longer being administered to only surgical or trauma patients: Cancer patients being treated with chemotherapy drugs may need multiple blood transfusions in their battle against cancer. It is not unusual for these patients to need 20-40 during the course of their treatment, they note, and there is no artificial or animal substitute for human blood. 

A news release from the American Red Cross noted that it had issued an emergency call for blood and platelet donors due to a “severe shortage” of blood. There were 37,000 fewer blood and platelet donations in November and December than expected, including 319 here in the Missouri-Illinois Blood Services Region. 

To make an appointment, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit redcrossblood.org (use code YIJS for either), or call  Judy Hellman at 314-324-3384. Walk-ins are available the day of the drive but appointments take preference.