Blood donations taken at mall in Huntington Station

There never are enough blood donors, said Susan DiMartino as she helped set up a mobile blood center Saturday at Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington Station.

But snow earlier this month increased the need, costing the New York Blood Center about 15,000 pints of blood, said DiMartino, an account manager for the center. The blood and platelet collection drive at the mall was an attempt to make up some of that difference.

"We really need people to come out and donate on a regular basis," DiMartino said. "It is truly important for people to do it on a regular basis before the need arises."

Karen Muscolino, the center's director of recruitment, urged potential donors not to wait until "someone they know needs blood."

Falorine Smolenski, 19, and her sister Nicole, 18, of Dix Hills, who said they donate regularly, said they stumbled upon the donation center in the mall after stopping there on their way to donate at the permanent center further south on Route 110. "I like how it helps other people. I want to become a physician's assistant so this is just another step in helping people feel better," said Falorine.

The Blood Center visits malls because of the number of people there, DiMartino said, and hoped to get 40 to 60 pints during the six-hour drive. But two hours in, they had less than 10 donors.

O negative and B negative blood types are among those hard to come by in recent months, DiMartino said. "O negative is the universal donor so we are always looking for people that are O negative because they can help everybody," she said, adding that a donation helps up to three people and takes about an hour.

As he recovered from his donation, Ylik Mathews, 20, of Jamaica, said more people should donate because there are "a lot of people who need help and you never know when you might need help yourself one day."

Publicity, he said, is key. "Put it on Facebook, MySpace, get the word out."