Capital Region Blood Challenge kicks off January 2

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- January marks National Blood Donor Month. The American Red Cross is working with some local CEOs to host the third annual Capital Region Blood Challenge.

The CEOs of the participating companies will have a friendly competition to encourage the greatest number of donors. The blood drives will be at the Red Cross at 33 Everett Road in Albany from January 2 to January 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Each donor will be able to vote for their recruiting company. In total, the goal of the Capital Region Blood Challenge is to collect more than 132 units of blood over the four days.

The winner will be awarded the Blood Challenge trophy. Sponsoring companies include Albany Medical Center, CDPHP, First Light, National Grid, Lia Auto, MVP Health Care, and Plug Power.  

According to the Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. Each day, the Red Cross needs to collect about 12,500 blood donations and 3,000 platelet donations for patients at about 2,500 hospitals across the country.

To schedule an appointment to donate blood, you can visit the Red Cross website and use the code BloodChallenge or call 1-800-RED CROSS. All donors will get a free Red Cross t-shirt while supplies last.