Delco’s Red Cross is in desperate need of blood donors

Current blood supplies have dropped to dangerously low levels. To help alleviate the shortage, the Red Cross has set up nearly a dozen donation blood drives this week at donation centers around the area.

The Red Cross is the largest single supplier of blood and blood products in the United States, collecting millions of pints of blood since 1941. It collects and processes more than 40 percent of the country’s supply and distributes it to some 3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide.

According to the Delco Times, all blood types are needed, but O negative is in especially high demand. Because of its universal properties, it can be transfused into patients with any blood type.

Qualified donors can visit any of these blood drive locations:

Monday: 1-7:30 p.m., St. John’s Episcopal Church, Essington

Tuesday: 2-7 p.m., The Oaks Ballroom, Glenolden

Wednesday: 1:30-6:30 p.m., YMCA of Eastern Delaware County, Lansdowne

Thursday: 1-7:00 p.m., Ridley Park Presbyterian Church, Ridley Park

For a full list of locations and more information, visit delcotimes.com.