The Jefferson Davis Community Hospital and The Blood Center is holding a blood drive Friday in Prentiss. The Bloodmobile will be available from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Blood donors can choose to receive a blood donor t-shirt, support Camp Challenge with From the Heart Club, do a replacement on behalf of a patient or Family Blood Assurance.

Instead of a t-shirt or promotional item, donors can select Family Blood Assurance as their reward for giving blood.

Donors selecting the Family Blood Assurance option receive unlimited blood coverage for each beneficiary, determined by the donor.

If donors choose the From the Heart Club as their reward option, donors join a pool of other blood donors who send children with cancer and chronic hematologic disorders to a non-profit summer camp known as Camp Challenge.

Walk-ins are welcome, but you can also make an appointment online at www.thebloodcenter.org. Healthy individuals 17 years or older and weighing at least 110 pounds are eligible to donate blood. 16-year-olds may donate as long as they weigh at least 130 pounds and have signed parental consent.

The FGH partnership with The Blood Center means that blood donations stay local to FGH and its regional facilities including Jefferson Davis Community Hospital. With over 1,000 blood products used each month, donations are crucial to ensuring facilities are prepared for emergencies and other treatments.

The Blood Center has been the primary supplier of blood components to local hospitals throughout South Mississippi, the Gulf Coast, and South Louisiana for 64 years.