The Iowa chapter of the American Red Cross will be starting 2026 much as it always does, with a critical need for blood donors as blood supplies are dangerously low.
The agency’s Iowa spokesman Josh Murray says he’s hoping the blood shortage in the new year makes people stop and think about what they can do to help year-round.
“Giving blood is definitely just something that we all could do to help people, and a lot of times we’ve needed blood ourselves,” Murray says, “and we probably know someone who’s needed blood and the only way to have that blood on the shelves is through donors.”
This year, the Red Cross held more than 1,200 blood drives across Iowa and collected more than 30,000 units of blood. Murray suggests if you’re pondering making a New Year’s resolution, consider resolving to give blood.
“If you do give blood, maybe give more often. If you’re able to, or if you haven’t, give it a try,” Murray says. “A lot of times people who do give for that first time become lifelong donors because they realize it is not that hard. It is not that painful and they see the benefit of it. They see that you are helping someone in need.”
You can safely donate blood every 56 days and the process typically takes less than an hour, while the actual collection just lasts about ten minutes.
“You can go to redcrossblood.org and you can put in your ZIP code there for blood drives and it’ll pull up all the blood drives, all the fixed site locations where you can give. Right there, you can make an appointment,” Murray says. “We will have mostly normal hours, there’ll be a few adjustments around the holidays but mostly normal hours.”
The blood is used for people facing life-threatening conditions like cancer, sickle cell disease, childbirth complications and traumatic injuries. He says patients rely on a consistent blood supply to survive and heal, and it’s the blood already on the shelves that helps save lives in an emergency.
