The need for blood to save patient lives continues, even in a pandemic. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, thousands of Red Cross blood drives have been canceled as community organizations and businesses restrict access to many locations. The Red Cross needs the help of blood donors and blood drive hosts to ensure a stable blood supply throughout this crisis. This summer, help restock the shelves by giving whole blood or platelets to help patients battling disease and facing the unexpected.

Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and additional precautions—including temperature checks, social distancing and face coverings for donors and staff—have been implemented to help protect the health of all those in attendance.

Donation appointments can be made for the coming days and weeks by downloading the free Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.