It's a beautiful day for a blood drive at CHS Field in St. Paul, the home of the St. Paul Saints.
The American Red Cross blood drive comes a little more than a month before the baseball season starts.
Melissa Santana says their goal Monday is to collect 40 units. Each unit consists of a pint of blood.
"The need is a need every day," Santana says. "I mean, there's always a shortage of blood. I think it's only like 5% of the whole world donates. Our region is the most collective region in all the states, so we do collect most of the blood supply for the state."
Blood drives are happening almost every day during the winter and expectations are set during those drives.
"Our recruitment team sets a goal for the day and then based on that goal they set a number of appointments, considering how many walk-ins or how many no-shows come in every day," says Santana.
Julia Jaffe was one of the first to donate Monday morning at CHS Field.
"I mean, it hurts obviously when they're, you know, putting the needle in but you know that you're helping somebody who needs blood," she says. "You know, needs to be saved and it's, super impactful and I would do it 10 times over."
In addition to the feeling that you are doing something special for people in need, donors at CHS are offered free cookies and Saints merchandise.