Blood donations
The Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross is requesting blood donations. Eligible donors can call 800-GIVE-LIFE to schedule an appointment. Platelet donors should call 800-272-2123.
Calendar
Spiritual reflections: Bon Secours Spiritual Center will offer spiritual enrichment programs at 1525 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville. Information: http://www.bonsecoursspiritualcenter.org. Registration: 410-442-1320.
Screenings
The county Health Department's North Laurel Health Center, 9411 Whiskey Bottom Road, Laurel, will offer walk-in HIV/AIDS testing services from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. by appointment only: 410-313-0630. Also, the Columbia Health Center, 7180 Columbia Gateway, Columbia, will conduct HIV testing at 8 a.m. Mondays for the first 20 people. Information: 410-313-7500. Testing is free, anonymous and confidential.
Support groups
Support/In
tervention programs
Offered free at Laurel Regional Hospital, 7300 Van Dusen Road, Laurel: •Alcoholics Anonymous, 7 p.m. Sundays. •Bipolar disorder, 6 p.m. Thursdays. •Narcotics Anonymous, 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays. •Parkinson's disease, 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays. Information: 301-776-3426. •Rehabilitation for strokes and long-term illness, 6 p.m. the second Thursday of the month. Information: 301-497-7914 or 410-792-7636.
Support groups
at the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center, 10710 Charter Drive, Suite G050, Columbia. Information 419-740-7005: •Caregivers for people suffering from cancer or other illnesses meet from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month. •A
support group meets from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month. Registration: 410-964-9100, ext. 5. •Living with
support group meets from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month. Registration: 410-740-5858. Teens Together support
group, the networking group for teens who have a friend or family member with cancer will meet from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of every month.
Widows and widowers
The group meets from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month at Jilly's in the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center, 10300 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City. Information: 410-740-5858.
Parkinson's disease
An education and support group meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of every month, 8180 Lark Brown Road, Elkridge. Information: 410-955-8795.
HIV support group
for those infected with or affected by HIV. A women's group meets from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Friday of every month. A group for men and women meets from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month. Meetings are at the county Health Department, 7180 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia. Information: 410-313-6267.
Family support groups
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Howard County offers several support groups each month for family and friends of adults with a mental illness and groups for parents of school-aged children with mental health issues. Also offered are support groups for young adults (18-30) living with a mental illness and a weekly group for adults of any age living with a mental illness. Call 410-772-9300 or visit http://www.nami.org/sites/namihowardcounty for specific times and locations.