Blood banks in Michigan had much lower donation rates this week due to the weather.
Michigan Blood is a non-profit blood bank that usually collects 2,200 units of blood every week.
Spokesman Jim Childress says this week, donations dropped to 800.
“We do need people to donate at a higher rate than they normally do, and take this very seriously and help out the nation's blood supply,” says Childress.
The group is offering donors $10 Meijer gift cards and expanding its hours of operation through next Friday.
Bridget Touhey is a spokeswoman for the Red Cross of Southeastern Michigan.
She says there's an urgent need for donors with O+, O-, A-, and B- blood types.
“And what that means is that we have difficulty in meeting the standing orders of hospitals for those blood types currently,” says Touhey.
Touhey says that could mean canceled elective surgeries.
