Red Cross in desperate need of blood donors

The American Red Cross is critically short on blood donations, and is in desperate need of donors.

The organization has issued an emergency call for help, reporting its blood donations have fallen short of expectations for the past two months.

In just two months, the Red Cross has seen about 60,000 fewer donations than needed across the country, according to its Portland Chapter.

The organization has added more than 25,000 additional appointment slots and community blood drives across the U.S. to address the need.

The Red Cross said that summer is always a challenging time for blood and platelet donations. With school out, and people traveling, donations drop. About 20% of the organization's supply comes from blood drives at high schools and colleges.

"There is typically a shortage in the summertime because people get busy with vacations. They don't make their appointments to donate blood as they normally might have in other times of the year," said Patty Corvaia of the Red Cross.

To schedule an appointment to donate, you can use the free blood donor app, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-Red-Cross (1-800-733-2767).

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