Red Cross sees lowest blood supply in a decade

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) -The American Red Cross is again asking for help, as the blood shortage continues to worsen. Now, their blood supplies are at their lowest point in a decade.

“This is something I can do that can make a huge difference in a life,” said Jessie Hansen, a former nurse who was donating blood on Friday.

Hansen has donated regularly for a few years. While her Friday appointment may have been normal, the need for blood is exceptional.

“I know there’s a huge shortage, I do it anyway, but certainly now it’s critical,” she said.

A shortage of blood has been lingering for months. It’s the last call from the Red Cross, when their national stores were at their lowest in six years, turned up many donors, but not enough. Supplies now at their lowest in ten years.

“We’ve actually been experiencing it for about the last month. Different reasons why we’re maybe experiencing it, we’ve seen COVID surges in certain areas, school is back in session…we’ve seen a drop in donor turnout,” said Courtney Slanaker, the head of the Southern Arizona chapter of the American Red Cross.

Donors of all blood types, especially type O are in critical need, but, platelets and plasma supplies are strained too. Several reasons are likely the culpri: COVID-19 surges continuing, society being occupied by school and holidays and plasma donations suffering because of border closures. For Southern Arizona alone, the Red Cross said they need 35 people a day through at least the rest of the year donating platelets to stock their shelves again, but nationally for blood, there’s still a cry for help.

“Right now, in order to curb the shortage, we need an additional ten thousand units, so ten thousand people donating blood,” said Slanaker.

That’s ten thousand people every day needed across the nation. The local chapter of the American Red Cross is giving out $10 amazon gift cards for donors who give November 1-23, and those who donate from the 1-12 will be entered to win a trip for two to Hawaii.

Here are the upcoming opportunities to donate:

Cochise County

Douglas

11/10/2021: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Douglas Fire Department, 1400 E 10th St.

Portal

11/11/2021: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Portal Rescue and Fire Station, 1216 W. Portal Rd.

Sierra Vista

11/1/2021: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Sierra Vista Mall, 2200 El Mercado Loop

11/1/2021: 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., LDS Sierra Vista Stake, 1000 Taylor Dr.

11/2/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Sierra Vista United Methodist Church, 3225 St. Andrews Dr.

11/2/2021: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Canyon Vista Medical Center, 5750 E, AZ-90 suite 180

11/10/2021: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m., Sierra Vista Ace Hardware, 3756 E. Fry Blvd.

11/11/2021: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Civil Air Patrol, 1760 Airport Ave.

11/13/2021: 7 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Our Lady of the Mountains Church, 1425 Yaqui St.

Graham County

Safford

11/10/2021: 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Gila Valley Safford Community, Quality Inn & Suites, 420 E. US Highway 70

Thatcher

11/4/2021: 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Eastern Arizona College, 615 N Stadium Ave.

11/8/2021: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., VFW Post 10385, 3481 W 8th St.

Greenlee County

Clifton

11/9/2021: 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Morenci Clifton Community ALPost28, American Legion Post 28, 51 Frisco Ave.

Pima County

Green Valley

11/1/2021: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., Continental Plaza, 210 W Continental Rd #213

11/12/2021: 7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Our Lady of the Valley Church - High, 505 N La Canada Dr.

Oro Valley

10/30/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Trader Joe’s on Oracle, 7912 N Oracle Rd.

Sahuarita

11/2/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Sahuarita High School, 350 W. Sahuarita Rd.

Tucson

10/30/2021: 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Safeway, 9050 E. Valencia Rd.

10/31/2021: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 7570 N Thornydale Rd.

10/31/2021: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m., The Junior League of Tucson Inc., 2099 E. River Rd.

11/2/2021: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Richard Elias-Mission Public Library, 3770 S Mission Rd.

11/2/2021: 1:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., LDS Tucson East Stake, 6901 E. Kenyon Dr.

11/3/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Tucson Association of Realtors, 2445 N Tucson Blvd.

11/3/2021: 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Alicat Scientific, 7641 N. Business Park Dr.

11/4/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., ARC Blood Donation Center - Foothills, 7354 N La Cholla Blvd.

11/5/2021: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Pima Medical Institute, 2121 N Craycroft Rd. Building 1

11/6/2021: 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Redeemer Lutheran Church, 8845 N. Silverbell Rd.

11/6/2021: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., Ward 4, 8123 E. Poinciana Dr.

11/6/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Esperanza 7th Day Adventist Spanish Church, 6255 S 12th Ave.

11/7/2021: 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Corpus Christi Parish, 300 N. Tanque Verde Loop Rd.

11/7/2021: 7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Saint Pius X Catholic Church, 1800 N. Camino Pio Decimo

11/7/2021: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Rise Combat Sports, 7131 E Tanque Verde Rd.

11/9/2021: 7 a.m. - 2 p.m., Banner UMC - In Memory of Susan Kinkade, 1625 N. Campbell Ave.

11/9/2021: 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., SONORAN SCIENCE ACADEMY GYM TUCSON, 2325 W Sunset Rd.

11/9/2021: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., Sierra Morado Community, Community Center, 5825 S. Metropolitan Dr.

11/11/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., ARC Blood Donation Center - Foothills, 7354 N La Cholla Blvd.

11/11/2021: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., College of Engineering, 1127 E. James Rogers Way

11/12/2021: 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Literacy Connects, 200 E. Yavapai Rd.

11/13/2021: 7 a.m. - 1 p.m., Mountain View Country Club, 38759 S. Mountain View Blvd., SaddleBrooke Community

11/14/2021: 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Saint Philips in the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N Campbell Ave.

Santa Cruz County

Sonoita

10/31/2021: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Our Lady of the Angels, 22 Los Encinos Rd, POB 1272

Tubac

10/30/2021: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Tubac Community Center, 50 Bridge Rd.

Yuma County

Yuma

11/9/2021: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., The Rock Church, 2555 E Gila Ridge Rd.

11/10/2021: 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Yuma Rural Metro Fire Station, 2029 South Arizona Ave.

11/11/2021: 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Yuma Rural Metro Fire Station, 2029 South Arizona Ave.

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