The American Red Cross held a blood drive at the Casco Community Center on Wednesday. Geoff Allen, who supervised the blood drive, said 20 people signed up and scheduled an appointment in advance and, as of midday, about a dozen people had come to donate, including several walk-ins.

Dan Dowling, Red Cross communications manager for Northern New England, said the Red Cross supplies blood nationwide, and supplies will always go where they’re needed most, with donors able to track their donation on the Red Cross app.

In Maine, the organization has a permanent donor site in Portland, but frequently holds blood drives in smaller communities such as Casco. Typically, the Red Cross’s biennial blood drive takes place at the Casco Village Church. Recreation Director Beth Latsey said the drive was moved to the Community Center due to the church’s current lack of air conditioning.

Ben Innes, a collections technician, said this particular division of the Red Cross, which covers an area within a two-hour drive of Portland, conducts about four to five blood drives a day across southern Maine.

Donor Alice Ruvane told Lakes Region Now that she had known for a while that there was a shortage of blood, and that her blood type, O positive, could be used to treat a wide variety of people. Meanwhile, donor Tim Walsh said he was inspired to donate by his mother, who donated blood at any opportunity while he was growing up.

Joanne Vail, director of the Casco Village Church Food Pantry, said that in addition to the Red Cross drives usually hosted at the church, she also runs a drive herself in memory of her late husband, Ted. She said Ted had a genetic disorder called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and was always in need of platelets. After he died during a liver transplant in 2014, Vail began to organize a blood drive every Christmas season in his memory. Since 2014, she said, they have collected over 1,000 units of blood.

“It’s nice for people to know that there’s a constant need for blood,” Vail said, “and you never know when your loved one’s gonna need it.”