DOWAGIAC — Friday afternoon, the ACTION Ministries building, 301 Main St., Dowagiac, was filled with people who were spending their lunch break saving lives.

ACTION hosted a blood drive for the American Red Cross from noon to 5:45 p.m. Friday. Many community members attended the blood drive to help ensure that blood was available to those who needed it, according to ACTION President Jeff Neumann.

“I think it’s great that it’s happening,” he said of the blood drive.

Neumann said that ACTION hosted the blood drive Friday after the original location for the drive fell through, adding that he wants the ACTION Ministries center to serve as a community center of sorts that can be used to serve community needs.

“We want to use the building for the community any time we can, whether it be for meetings, blood drives, wedding receptions, anything,” he said.

Though the building was the primary motivation for hosting the blood drive, Neumann said that he believes donating blood to be important.

“It’s the literal lifeblood of injured and infirmed people,” he said. “I would encourage everybody to be a donor, because we can’t make the stuff. This is the only way we can get it.”

Those who donated blood Friday said they saw the importance of giving blood as much as Neumann did.

Friday was the first time in nearly 20 years that Ted Cooper, 75, of Dowagiac, donated blood. He called donating blood “a worthy cause,” and said that he thought it was about time that he donated again.

“I think it’s really important,” Cooper said. “I can do it, so I’m going to.”

Unlike for Cooper, Friday was routine for Dan Hamill, 63, of Pokagon Township, who donates blood every four months. He said that he believes everyone that is able to donate blood should every chance they get.

“I couldn’t donate for years because of my job, so now I do it whenever I can,” Hamill said. “I know a lot of people who get blood all the time. They really need it.”

American Red Cross representative Yvonne Ackley said she was grateful for all the people who came out to donate blood at ACTION, adding that due to the fact that only 5 percent of people who are able to donate blood do, each person that donates makes a difference. Ackley also said that the Red Cross is in particular need of O negative and O positive blood.

“[Blood] is always needed in case of disasters, and for some people, on a regular basis,” she said. “Donating can save lives.”