• Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
• Sickle cell disease affects more than 70,000 people in the U.S. About 1,000 babies are born with the disease each year. Sickle cell patients can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives.
• More than 1.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer last year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.
• A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.

• Although an estimated 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate, less than 10% actually do each year.
• Blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from generous donors.
• Type O-negative blood (red cells) can be transfused to patients of all blood types. It is always in great demand and often in short supply.
• Type AB-positive plasma can be transfused to patients of all other blood types. AB plasma is also usually in short supply.

• Donating blood is a safe process. A sterile needle is used only once for each donor and then discarded.
• Blood donation is a simple four-step process: registration, medical history and mini-physical, donation and refreshments.
• The actual blood donation typically takes less than 10-12 minutes. The entire process, from the time you arrive to the time you leave, takes about an hour and 15 min.
• The average adult has about 10 pints of blood in his body. Roughly 1 pint is given during a donation.

• Most donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days of collection.
• Donated platelets must be used within five days of collection – new donations are constantly needed..

• The number one reason donors say they give blood is because they “want to help others.”
• One donation can help save the lives of up to three people.
• If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 1,000 lives.

• The American Red Cross blood program started in 1940, under the leadership of Dr. Charles Drew.
• The American Red Cross supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply.
• The Red Cross provides blood for patients in approximately 2,700 hospitals across the U.S.
• The American Red Cross works with more than 50,000 blood drive sponsors each year to hold more than 200,000 blood drives, providing convenient locations for people to give blood.

Please help us reach our goal of 20 donors! You can either sign up using the link and sponsor code below or sign up at the market.