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Randall Jeppesen and AP reportingUtahns are becoming more willing to give of themselves so they can afford to drive their cars.
Inside the bio-medics plasma center in Provo, Blaine Collins says business has been good.
"Last year around this time during summer they were doing about 70 to 80 donors a day. Currently we're doing anywhere from 125 to 180," he said.
And this is the slow season. Just before the local colleges got out, they were at standing room only. Why? Because people need more cash.
"For the donation process you can typically make about $280 a month extra," he explained.
Collins says he's well aware the high gas prices could be the cause of the renewed interest in giving plasma. But he says it's not just college students anymore. He's seen a rise in locals coming in as well.
Like many people, Christine Lee says the economic downturn has made it difficult to make ends meet. But she's found a way to fill the gap: The Salt Lake woman regularly sells her plasma.
"I get paid every two weeks, which makes it hard in between checks," said Lee, 37, who works two part-time jobs because she's having trouble finding full-time work with benefits.
She's apparently not alone. Four Salt Lake County plasma centers say walk-in business is up as much as 50 percent, to as many as 600 customers weekly.
Clinics pay about $40 for the first donation and allow up to two donations per week. Donors typically get paid more for a second donation.
Taken from the blood, plasma is used to make drugs to treat hemophilia and immune-deficiency diseases.
A spokesman for a Grifols Biomat USA clinic declined to comment. Still, one downtown Biomat clinic a sign advertises "Cash Today" and promises donors up to $275 per month for plasma.
Dylan Hall responded to a television ad seeking donors last week, but the college student said the clinic was so packed he never got to the donation chair.
"I'm planning on coming in next Thursday," Hall told the Deseret News. "I could use the extra money, and it helps people in the process. No bad in that."
Visits to plasma centers aren't the only way Utahns are finding cash to cover the rising costs of gasoline and groceries. Others are selling their jewelry, electronic scrap and even gold teeth.
"Easily tripled, I would say, would be fairly accurate," Chris Wright, vice president of Cascade Refining, said of the precious metal recycler's business over the past nine months.
Some increases could be tied to soaring commodity prices, but Wright says there is "usually" an upturn for him when the economy slows.
Still others are turning to high-interest payday lenders to bridge the paycheck-to-paycheck gap. A survey of about 700 low-income residents who get food from the Crossroads Urban Center say they've used the loans to pay for health care and other needs over the past year.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
