2 Blood Drives Around Greater Morristown Amid 'Urgent' Need

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey Blood Services has experienced low blood supplies because of the coronavirus. But there are ways to help in Morris County.

New Jersey Blood Services — a division of the New York Blood Center — will hold two local blood drives in the near future:

• Feb. 6: St. Jude's Church, Budd Lake, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Feb. 13: Morris Plains Community Center, 51 Jim Fear Dr., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Blood products only have a shelf life of five to 42 days, so constant replenishment is necessary. Patients depend on the transfusion of red blood cells, platelets and plasma to stay alive.

But the pandemic continues to push blood supplies to the brink, according to U.S. News & World Report. COVID-19 has made blood donation sites less common.

According to the New York Blood Center, the gap between blood needed and blood donated now averages about 8,000 donations per month. Schools, colleges, workplaces and houses of worship hosted 75 percent of blood drives before the pandemic.

To donate blood or for information on how to organize a blood drive, call 1-800-933-2566 or visit nybloodcenter.org.

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