American Red Cross
Image: redcross.org
A student at Linn-Benton Community College iLearn, Cody Gotchall has spent the past several years volunteering with numerous organizations. Over the years, Cody Gotchall has helped such groups as Habitat for Humanity and SAGE Garden. He also has donated blood to the American Red Cross since 2012.
In addition to providing disaster relief and training services, the American Red Cross takes and distributes blood donations. Because of blood shortages, the American Red Cross issued an emergency call for blood donations in early July 2017.
During the two months leading up to July, the American Red Cross was sending platelet and blood donations to hospitals faster than it was receiving donations. There was roughly 61,000 fewer donations than what the organization needed to meet the demand of hospitals. The organization believed this shortage resulted from fewer blood drives. Many drive sponsors had their vacation time during the summer, especially around Independence Day, and this resulted in close to 700 fewer blood drives organized during the week of July 4.
To address this shortage, the American Red Cross called for emergency donations. The organization reminds individuals that donating blood and platelets is a relatively simple process and that most individuals above the age of 17 are eligible to give.
Cody Gotchall 