The American Red Cross continues to encourage healthy people to make appointments to donate blood or platelets to ensure blood remains readily available for patients who still rely on transfusions. There are five blood drives scheduled to take place in Greene and Columbia counties in the coming weeks. A drive will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fri., May 8 at Taconic Hills High School in Craryville; at the Catskill Elks Lodge Hall in Catskill, from noon until 6 p.m. on Mon., May 11; at Palatine Park and Youth Activity Building in Germantown, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Mon., Jun. 1; at the Chatham Firehouse in Chatham, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wed., Jun. 10; and at the Hudson Elks Lodge on Harry Howard Avenue, from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Thu., Jun. 11. More details are available at redcrossblood [dot] org.