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Alabama 961 Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps at Southside High School is doing their part to help eliminate a shortage at area blood banks as they held a blood drive last week.

The drive was conducted by LifeSouth Community Blood Centers on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the Southside gymnasium.

The blood drive is normally held in the springtime, but this year JROTC instructor Col. Brook Rollins said he wanted to have it close to the holidays since he knew it is an important time for local hospitals.

“Right now, blood banks are as low of a supply as it has been on record,” Rollins said. “So, I felt like it was important for us to go ahead and do the drive before the Christmas holidays because this is a time of the year when they probably need it the most.”

More than 20 cadets signed up for the blood drive, and Rollins said there were several teachers who also signed up for the event.

Nick Mielke, region director for LifeSouth said they had a good turnout. Not only will this blood drive also help alleviate shortages in the area, he said it would also benefit JROTC as well.

“It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” Meilke said. “LifeSouth will make a donation to schools and organizations who host blood drives based on the number of persons who sign up to give blood.”

Meilke said the blood shortage is one of the most dire that he’s ever seen. All of the blood that was donated during the drive will stay in the region here and help out local hospitals in the Montgomery region.

That was the reason why Rollins chose to go with LifeSouth.

“If you give to other organizations, you don’t know where that blood will go, but with them, we know it will stay right here close to home and help out the people around here,” Rollins said. “This is one of our community service projects during the year, and I am happy to see so many of our cadets be willing to serve in this way.”