Blood donations desperately needed 

Community Blood Center has announced a blood emergency following a summer of low donor turnout.

Contributing to the shortage are the recent Labor Day holiday, back-to-school activities and a prolonged 50 percent decrease in youth and first-time donors. The region’s blood supply is well below the optimal five to seven days and while all blood types are needed, types O+, O-, B- and platelets are critically low. And the Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas communities are not alone, blood shortages are happening across the country, with multiple centers urgently calling for blood donations.

Besides the sustained loss of youth and first-time donors and fewer organizations hosting blood drives, remote and blended work schedules are all combined to have a devastating impact on local blood supply and the nation’s blood supply. There is no surplus in the nation’s blood supply to help out centers that experience seasonal shortages. Young and first-time donors were not introduced to the life-saving act of giving blood for the three-plus years during the pandemic and are seeing the impact now.

The next blood drive in the Nodaway County area is at 11 am to 4:30 pm, October 18 and 19 in the Tower View Room at the JW Jones Student Union on the Northwest Missouri State University campus. It is sponsored by the Northwest Student Senate and Homecoming Committee. To book an appointment, go to savealifenow.org/group and enter group code: CZ. For more information, call Callie Spunaugle at 660.281.6691.