With Hurricane Sandy forcing the American Red Cross to cancel blood drives along the East Coast, people in unaffected areas, including Cherokee County, are being asked to donate blood.

The Red Cross has canceled more than 300 donation drives along the East Coast because of the storm, said Kristen Stancil, a program manager with American Red Cross Southern Blood Services.

“We’ve lost about 9,000 units (of blood),” she said.

The Red Cross is not scheduling any additional blood drives in the area to collect donations, but three blood drives are scheduled in Woodstock during the upcoming week.

A blood donation drive will be at Good Shepherd Lutheran from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The church is located at 1208 Rose Creek Drive.

Another blood drive will be from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday at Etowah High School.

Walmart in Woodstock will host a blood drive from 1 to 6 p.m. Nov. 9.

All donated blood is part of the Red Cross’s nationwide network, Stancil said. Some, but not all, blood collected across the country in the upcoming days may benefit those injured by Hurricane Sandy and associated weather emergencies.

“We’re looking for all types. We’re always looking for O-type donors, because that can be used for anyone with any blood type,” Stancil said.

To find out eligibilty to donate blood or to schedule an appointment online, visit www.redcrossblood.org. To schedule an appointment by phone, call 1-800-RED-CROSS.