With the busy Fourth of July holiday week upon us, the American Red Cross asks donors to be a powerful force for good by giving blood or platelets now and in the weeks to come. You can be the difference between someone’s storm and their sunshine. Donors are critically needed right now after a sharp decrease in donations since late spring. All blood types are needed, especially donors giving type O blood and those giving platelets.
Full summer calendars and holiday plans may prevent regular donors from being able to give. Additionally, significant summer weather threats such as hurricanes, flooding and tornadoes can result in travel hazards and blood drive cancellations that could impact the blood supply. Help keep lifesaving blood products stocked on hospital shelves and book a time to give blood or platelets by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.
The Red Cross has teamed up with Universal Pictures for the theatrical release of Twisters to help avoid a summer blood shortage. All who come to give blood or platelets in July will get a Fandango Movie Ticket by email. Plus, those who come to give July 1 through 14 will also receive a one-of-a-kind Twisters and Red Cross umbrella, while supplies last. As a bonus, those who come to give blood in July will also automatically be entered for a chance to win a 2025 Ram 1500 Big Horn®. See RedCrossBlood.org/Twisters for full details.
Swarms of tornadoes and extreme flooding in recent months have tragically taken lives and destroyed entire communities. Most recently, millions of people have endured one of the longest lasting and strongest heat waves in years. Unfortunately, in states like Arkansas, Ohio and Nebraska, many communities are still picking up the pieces and recovering from the second most active tornado season on record, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.
“The Red Cross is grateful to have partners like Universal Pictures who are not only lending this support to encourage blood donations during this critical time of year but have also generously donated to help support disaster relief,” said Jennifer Pipa, vice president of Disaster Programs for the Red Cross. “Because of the climate crisis, the Red Cross is now launching twice as many relief operations for major disasters than we did a decade ago. And disasters are not only straining our relief operations but also our ability to collect lifesaving blood donations. So far this year we have collected 20,000 fewer blood donations due to severe weather.”
Dare to be a force of nature this summer. Give blood or make a financial donation to the Red Cross by visiting http://RedCross.org.
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