TAMPA, Fla. — Many of you are wondering how to help the people of southwest Florida recover from Hurricane Ian, especially if you don't have much to give. There is one way to help that could actually save lives.
Donate blood. OneBlood is teaming up with Dunkin' Donuts across the Tampa Bay area this weekend to encourage donations and you'll get some goodies in return.
Blood donations are always needed to keep a healthy supply, but as you can imagine with the hurricane in southwest Florida, there's a shortage. OneBlood had to send additional supplies to the hospitals and clinics in that area before the hurricane hit, just to make sure it was there in case someone needed it.
Now they need to make up for that. Susan Forbes is Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for OneBlood. "Many times when we see these disasters like this, blood donation is an easy way for you to help because you're looking for a way," she said. "Blood donation is that avenue that you are able to help."
She says they will need extra donations for some time because they are not able to operate in the southwest Florida area.
"The majority of our operations in southwest Florida remain suspended at this time," Forbes said. "There's no power in a lot of the area, no internet connectivity still. Many of our donor locations are still impacted by that. So we are unable to resume operations there."
If you see a big red donation bus, you can just walk on and tell them you want to donate. They will get some information from you, ask you some questions, and if you qualify the actual donation only takes about 15 minutes.
If you donate at one of the Dunkin' Donuts locations, you'll get a $5 gift card. Click here for more details on times and locations.