COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — It used to be that a blood donation was worth a free cookie and a cup of juice but a new effort to attract donors makes a donation of blood or platelets worth a free haircut. The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports that the American Red Cross and Sports Clips shops in Iowa and Nebraska are offering a free haircut in exchange for a blood donation through September.

Tricia Quinn, CEO of the Red Cross Midwest Blood Services Region says the offer is part of a national promotion. In Nebraska seven Sports Clips shops in the Omaha area and two in Lincoln are participating. In Iowa, two shops in Cedar Rapids are among those participating along with others in Coralville, Dubuque, and North Liberty.

Details are online at www.sportclips.com/redcross .