CLEVELAND — The American Red Cross continues to face an emergency blood shortage and is in need of donors.
In an effort to help motivate donors to roll up their sleeves and help, from now until August 29, anyone who gives blood or platelets at the Red Cross will receive a $5 Amazon gift card.
Amazon donated $1 million dollars to help fuel this blood drive.
The Red Cross says currently they have less than a three-day supply of most blood types available, and less than two-day supply of the critical Type O blood.
You can schedule an appointment several ways, including using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, logging on to RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or, if you have one, by asking Amazon’s Alexa, “Alexa, find a blood drive.”
You can also find out about upcoming blood drives near you by clicking on RedCrossBlood.org and entering your zip code.
A blood donation takes about an hour from start to finish, but the actual donation itself only takes about 8-10 minutes. Donors can also save up to 15 minutes at the blood drive by completing a RapidPass®, which enables donors to fill out a health history questionnaire online, on the day of donation, from a mobile device or computer.
