ERIE — In March, while basketball teams are fighting for the chance to be crowned champions, patients battling cancer and other illnesses are fighting for their lives. The American Red Cross is asking blood donors to help patients rebound by making a lifesaving donation this spring.

Donors of all blood types are needed to help ensure that the Red Cross can collect more than 13,000 blood and platelet donations needed every day for patients.

In Elk County, a blood drive will be held March 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Ridgway Central Hose Company, 30 N. Broad St.; in McKean County, a drive will be held from 1 to 5:30 p.m. March 20 at the Church of the Nazarene in Bradford; in Potter County, a drive will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. March 16 at Zion Christian, 835 State Route in Ulysses, and from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. March 22 at Coudersport Consistory, 111 East 2nd St.