American Red Cross representatives from Boise, Idaho, were in Enterprise recently in the quest for new blood.

Lisa Winters, donor recruiter, and her supervisor, Jane Stutzman, visited Wallowa County to spread the word about the importance of becoming a blood donor and stirring up business for the next local blood drive, which is coming up Wednesday, March 19.

Along with one of the local blood drive’s coordinators, Cindi Aschenbrenner, the women made their pitch on KWVR radio and to students at Enterprise High School.

The trio was so successful that they filled most of the appointment slots available for the scheduled blood drive at Cloverleaf Hall, and extended the drive an extra hour, from noon to 6 p.m., to make room for new donors.

“We’ve been struggling the last five years,” Aschenbrenner said, noting that it’s probably been that long since the local drive has met its target of 70 pints of blood. “We have a lot of very loyal dedicated donors who donate every time,” she said, adding that unfortunately as time goes on some of them are no longer able to donate. “We need new, younger donors,” she said.

The search for new blood turned out to be very successful, with 24 high school students making appointments for the drive.

“Statistics show that if someone donates three times in a row, they are likely to become donors for life,” Winters said.

Aschenbrenner emphasized the importance of being on time for appointments and bringing along picture identification.

To schedule an appointment or for more information, call Aschenbrenner at 426-2039 or Julie Todd at 263-0101. To learn more about the blood donation process and donor eligibility requirements at (www.HelpSaveALive.org).