Blood center asking for donations on World Blood Donor Day

Wednesday is World Blood Donor Day and officials are encouraging people to come to a blood drive, bring a friend and save a life.

World Blood Donor Day started in 2005 and has been celebrated worldwide ever since. The World Health Organization’s theme for this year’s World Blood Donor Day is “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”

Memorial Blood Centers (MBC), a nonprofit Minnesota-based blood center, is hosting blood drives in Grand Rapids, Anoka and Hinckley on Wednesday.

MBC said the onset of the pandemic caused blood donations in high schoolers to drop 57%, a figure much lower than the average 12,000 blood donations MBC received pre-pandemic.

“World Blood Donor Day is a special day in which we celebrate the donors who make selfless donations to help their neighbors, as well as our team, who make it all possible,” said Kathy Geist, MBC’s vice president. “This year, we are asking young people to honor World Blood Donor Day by coming out to one of our blood drives, bringing a friend and saving a life. Youth blood donors are essential to the future of our region’s blood supply, so we hope young people will make donating blood a frequent habit.”

The Red Cross is hosting several community blood drives on Wednesday and Thursday. For a complete list of locations and for more information, CLICK HERE.

Minnesotans can donate blood anytime through the Red Cross by signing up online or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).