NEGAUNEE -- As the temperatures rise, believe it or not, so does the need for blood donors in the U.P.  It's because typical donors often take vacations and are out of town.

One of the ways the U.P. Regional Blood Center hopes to combat that trend is through blood drives in their Bloodmobile.

Thursday, it was parked outside of TV6 and FOX UP for the annual station blood drive.  The blood center typically collects 30 pints of blood from operations like this--that's over half of what they hope to collect each day across the U.P.--and they're hoping the convenience of the Bloodmobile will keep the donors dropping in.

"Makes it more convenient for people who do work the 8 to 5 shift," said Sallie Coron of the U.P. Regional Blood Center.  "It's more convenient for them if we come to them.  Plus with the price of gas, we save them the time and money to come see us."

You can set up your own Bloodmobile visit and find more information by going to the U.P. Regional Blood Center website.