MINNEAPOLIS — Blood donations typically go down during the cold winter months, but the Red Cross says this year is particularly bad.
The Red Cross says nationwide, it's down around 15,000 units of blood, compared to a typical January.
“We have a shortage and critically low levels of blood right now,” Red Cross account manager Sarah Forshee says.
The biggest reason behind this shortage may surprise many Minnesotans.
“The winter weather is playing a big role. The snow, the ice, things like that have really made it hard for our donors to go out and donate,” Forshee says.
The Red Cross says several donation drives have been canceled nationwide in recent weeks due to winter storms.
Here in the Midwest, managers are trying to encourage more donors to get out and donate during this time of milder weather.
"We're trying to do our best in our area. We're encouraging donors to get out and kind of help make up for that shortfall,” Forshee says.
But the Red Cross says this shortage is more than just a temporary setback, it's a trend that has been going on for 20 years with donation rates steadily dropping.
The Red Cross says the COVID pandemic also had a significant impact on blood donations.
A lot of businesses stopped hosting blood drives during the pandemic with more employees working from home.
High schools and colleges also put blood drives on hold and many of those annual donation drives haven't started back up again.
"Getting the youth involved is really big for us, so education is a huge piece,” Forshee says.
The Red Cross has tried several strategies to bring in new donors.
Last year, their Snoopy t-shirts went viral on social media and brought in a lot of first-time donors.
This year, they're giving donors a chance to win Super Bowl tickets.
The Red Cross is also giving donors $20 Amazon gift cards during the month of February.
"It's a really important thing for us to encourage people to get out there.”
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