NOTE: The next American Red Cross blood drive in Ada is Thursday, Dec. 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Ohio Northern University in McIntosh.
By Alli Walbolt, Icon intern
Each year in the United States, 5 million patients need blood and every person who gives blood can save three lives. However, the American Red Cross has had shortage of blood donations recently and needs more people to give.
Only 7% of people have the blood type O negative, the universal donor, and only 38% are eligible to give blood. These statistics make it hard for patients to find a donor, which causes many of them to have to wait and suffer the consequences.