• June 30, 2009

The Friendly's Ice Cream restaurant chain is offering a coupon for a free carton of the brand's ice cream to any individual who donates blood during July or August at American Red Cross blood drives in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, northeastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York.

The coupons may be redeemed at any participating Friendly's restaurant within those regions. (Some states may require the redeemer to pay state sales tax.)

The goal is to help boost the blood supply in the seven states during the summer months, when blood collection traditionally lags as a result of people being away on vacations and other factors.

Friendly's has more than 500 full-service family restaurants in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.--Karlene Lukovitz