The semi-annual community blood drive sponsored by the Locust Valley Rotary Club and the Locust Valley Fire Department will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 15 from 2:30 to 8 p.m. at the Locust Valley Firehouse on Buckram Road.

A recent addition to the program, portable apheresis (or ALYX) machines, will again be available. The equipment employs technology which removes a small portion of the donor's red blood cells while maintaining the body's total fluid volume. Red blood cells are essential to some of health care's most critical patients and can only be donated every 112 days (typical blood donations can be given every 56 days). Donors with O+, O-, B- and A- blood types are especially encouraged to use the ALYX system.

According to the Long Island Blood Services, only 2 percent of eligible donors actually donate. Donors are asked to bring a friend or relative who may not have given blood before. All donors will receive a free mini-medical exam which includes a review of their blood pressure, pulse rate, iron count, temperature and cholesterol level.

Donors must weigh at least 110 pounds and be between 16 and 76 years of age and in good health. For further information on the blood drive, call the Locust Valley Blood Drive committee at 676-0560.

If you wish to donate and cannot make it to the blood drive, contact the Long Island Blood Services at 800-933-BLOOD or visit www.nybloodcenter.org.