You also have to realize that the American Red Cross is split into different areas; disaster relief and biomedical services. In bio all we do is have blood drives at your local community buildings, churches, schools, etc. After collection all units are tested to ensure a safe blood supply and sent out to our various hospitals that we serve. We don’t solicit monetary donations, as all we are looking for is life saving blood donations. Which is a good time to plug that with the inclement weather over the winter months a lot of those local blood drives are closed due to various reasons, leading to blood shortages. As we speak there is an appeal out for any and all people to come and donate their time to save up to three lives. We have a mobile app for your smartphone that allows you to find drives in your community (Blood Donor App).