Help Keep the Summer Blood Supply Stable

ZANESVILLE, OH – With all the hustle and bustle of summer plans, one thing that can get put on the back burner is donating blood.

Tim Callahan, the Executive Director of the East Central Ohio Chapter of the Red Cross, says people tend to get busy with trips and travel plans as Summer rolls around, but it also serves as a reminder to donate blood or platelets before your next big excursion.

“There’s a lot of different things happening this time of year, you know, you’ll see people traveling, accidents, things like that can possibly happen.” Callahan said. “We also see, this is what we call the beginning of Hurricane season. June 1st, which I didn’t realize till I took this job, was that there were more than 4 seasons; there’s a fifth and it’s hurricane season. Once that happens and that starts disrupting things all over the place, where, just like here. If it’s bad weather, people can’t get out and do things.”

The Red Cross is asking for donors of all blood types to consider signing up for a drive near them to help make sure the shelves stay stocked for the rest of the summer.

Callahan added that for those who donate from now until June 28th will receive a $15 e-giftcard as well as then be entered into a grand prize drawing for a chance to win a $7,500 giftcard.

“You can go to redcrossblood.org, type in the zip code and it’ll show all of the drives that are going on in your area or wherever you choose to donate.” Callahan said. “They’ll come up and give you the times and the places and you can go and register for whatever time is convenient for you. You can also call redcross.org and find it but I find that the redcrossblood.org is the easiest way to find it.”

For more information on blood drives close to you, you can head to redcrossblood.org.