January is national blood donor month. Stacy Sime — the manager of a center that supplies blood to more than 90 hospitals in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — says every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. “Donors of LifeServe Blood Center in 2013 impacted over half a million lives,” she says. “We feel like we’re a vital part of the health care community and creating a healthy state of Iowa.”

The LifeServe Blood Center is located in Des Moines, but holds blood drives throughout the three-state region. It is one of the 15 largest blood centers in the country and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad toured the facility Thursday after signing a proclamation about blood donor month. “Every day approximately 38,000 pints of blood are needed to maintain a safe and adequate blood supply,” Branstad says. “Yet only 10 percent of the population eligible to give blood do so annually.”

Branstad says his wife, Chris, is a “real regular blood donor” who used to co-chair blood drives when they lived in Lake Mills. The governor describes himself as an “occasional” blood donor.

(Radio Iowa)