AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Shepeard Community Blood Center is partnering with Your Pie Pizza to help provide blood to local patients in the CSRA.

Anyone who donates blood with Shepeard from Jan. 1-11 will receive a voucher for a free 10-inch pizza from Your Pie and two movie tickets. The movie tickets can be redeemed at one of several local theaters.

Shepeard will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on New Year's Day.

The holiday season is always difficult for blood collection, but this year has had additional challenges.

"Many of our regular donors have been under the weather recently. Several respiratory and stomach bugs have prevented people from donating, and we've seen a drop in donations," said Shepeard CEO Benjamin Prijatel.

In an effort to get more people to donate, Your Pie is donating hundreds of pizzas to those who roll up their sleeves.

Your Pie will also host blood drives at all its locations in the CSRA on Jan. 2 and 3.

"We are lucky to live in a community where businesses like Your Pie see the importance of having a local blood supply available to local patients," said Prijatel.

Shepeard is the sole blood supplier to Wellstar MCG, Piedmont Augusta, Aiken Regional, Eisenhower Army Medical Center and more than two dozen other hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina.

Many other blood drives are scheduled across the CSRA for this event.

For a complete list of blood drive locations and Shepeard donation centers, go to https://shepeardblood.org/free-pizza-and-movie-tickets.