YORK, Pa. — Summer is on deck which means fun in the sun, vacations and a break from school. are just around the corner.
Unfortunately, all that fun can lead to less blood donations for the American Red Cross.
“Typically, speaking a lot of our blood donations come from high schools, colleges, universities. And our donor base comes from people who are doing it maybe in the middle of their workday, right after work,” said Laura Burke the Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, “because of vacation season, and because of schools letting out, people just find themselves a little bit more disbursed and blood donation isn’t top of mind.”
While the supply may be low the demand doesn’t change.
“Blood is used more often than you think,” said Burke, “It’s used obviously for trauma patients, so people coming in and out of the ER but it’s also used for women going through childbirth, it’s used for cancer patients, it’s transfused so frequently that it is always needed.”
Blood can’t be stockpiled or made, the only way to get it is through donations.
“It takes an hour of your day, and sometimes that hour of your day can mean you save a life,” said Burke.
FOX43 has teamed with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive. It will be held on May 23, at the York JCC from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
To donate, you can sign up for an appointment using this website. Appointments are encouraged, and walk-ins will be accepted.