Red Cross Urges Donors to Keep Up on Summer Donations
ZANESVILLE, OH – Summer is almost officially here and the Red Cross is urging you to stay on top of your donation schedule.
Summer is a busy time with road trips, family get-togethers and parties, but it’s also the time where the Red Cross sees a dip in their donations.
Don Hawkins, the Regional Communications Manager for the Red Cross Central and Southern Ohio Region, said currently there isn’t a blood shortage here in Ohio, but they’re reminding donors to keep up with their appointments to further prevent a shortage.
“We’re making the call to folks that, if you know, you’re a regular donor, make an appointment, keep that up. If you’re thinking about becoming a first time blood donor, go read everything that you want to read about it, find out what you want to find out about it, and come hang out with us and donate blood,” Hawkins said. “Help save someone’s life, and all these efforts will help us ensure that we avoid a shortage.”
Hawkins said the shelf life of a blood donation is only around 42 days. He said that’s why it’s so important to keep up with donation appointments, especially during the summer time.
“We’re good right now because people, 6 weeks ago came out and donated , and right now we’re good because our blood drives are pretty full right. But we’re going to see dips in that throughout the summer as people get busy,” Hawkins said. “That’s where, come August, we might find ourselves in a shortage, late summer is typically when a shortage does arise because you’ll see the, it’s dual thing. You’ll see the drop in donations because people are busy and you’ll also see more need for traumatic situations. Car accidents because people are traveling, heaven forbid someone gets injured doing 4th of July stuff, there might be a traumatic situation where they need extra blood.”
From now until the end of June, if you donate blood to the Red Cross you will receive a $15 Amazon E-Gift Card as well as be entered into a drawing for a $7,000 gift card.
To sign up for an appointment, you can head to redcrossblood.org/June
