ODELL - Residents in southeast Nebraska were giving the gift of life Tuesday during an important time for the American Red Cross.  A blood donation drive was held at the Odell Community Building….with several people making appointments ahead of time to donate.


"We had to cancel some operations due to the weather. Those first few weeks of January were a little rough, but it looks like we're seeing the upside and a thaw-out...so hopefully we no longer have to cancel and lose some of those units."


American Red Cross Donor Recruitment Manager Robyn Steinkuhler says some rescheduling was necessary to account for the recent winter storms in Nebraska that made donating blood difficult.


"We've seen an uptick of donors come out to donate because they've heard of the all-time low of donors coming out to the Red Cross. We've also been able to reschedule some of those drives that have been cancelled."


It was a bit of a doubly whammy, with the bad winter storms following what is normally a slow-down time for donations.  "Donors usually get pretty busy with the holidays. There's still patients and hospitals that are always needing blood around-the-clock. The need for blood is constant, so we always push for donors to come out."


With long-time blood donors aging….Steinkuhler says the Red Cross is continually looking at the next generation to give blood consistently.
"We do have some colleges that are starting to host drives and we really push to get those donors in. And, then we do also have some high schools in the area that are hosting drives. Beatrice High School does have a drive coming up and we're also doing a scholarship program with them, so the more units they give, the more scholarship money they get. Both Southeast Community College and Beatrice High School have drives coming up in the next month."


Steinkuhler says the Odell-Diller area is a dedicated community that regularly donates units of blood. Appointments to donate can be done online at redcrossblood.org……or by calling 1-800-Red Cross.