In anticipation of a blood shortage this winter, the American Red Cross is encouraging individuals and organizations to host blood drives in December, January and February.
According to the Red Cross, someone needs blood every two seconds. In order to fulfill this need during the winter months, the organization needs 6,500 additional groups from across the country to host blood drives. In this area alone, the organization needs 190 more groups to commit to hosting blood drives.
The organization states that 80 percent of its blood drive donations come from volunteer-hosted events.
“When someone hosts a blood drive, they give donors a chance to donate lifesaving blood, in turn helping to save dozens or even hundreds of lives,” Cliff Numark, senior vice president of Biomedical Services, says.
If a group or individual signs up to host a blood drive between Dec. 20 and Jan. 6, they will be given t-shirts to pass out to blood donors at the event.
For more information about hosting a blood drive, please visit RedCrossBlood.org/HostADrive.