Severe weather, summer months cause drop in blood donations
MIAMI - OneBlood has 27 Big Red Buses throughout Miami-Dade County taking donations every day, but despite their presence, donations often drop during the summer months.
Henley Beecham says donating blood is a non-event, as long as you follow his routine.
"It helps the blood pressure," Beecham said. "It's easy for me I've been doing it for so long. It's just a minor procedure."
He says he comes to give blood every chance he gets. The OneBlood organization could use more of him since they say during the summer months fewer people donate blood. They average between a 40-60 percent dip in donations.
"Normally we have about a 3-5 day inventory of blood. But during the summer that drops," said Pat Michaels of OneBlood.
Michaels says the procedure doesn't take long and says giving up about an hour of your time goes a long way.
"If you think it's not profound. It is because you could literally be saving someone's life," Michaels said.
The American Red Cross says they had a sharp drop in donations in late spring, severe weather also had an impact, causing 20,000 fewer donations to come through.
Henley can give a pint every month and a half. All can do is keep coming.
"Just a good deed for the day," he said.
If you donate blood, One Blood is giving 20-dollar e-gift cards and t-shirts. For July, The Red Cross will give a free movie ticket to anyone who donates blood or platelets.
OneBlood tells CBS News Miami that one of the main reasons why donations drop in the summer is because school is out. They say high schools, colleges and universities account for 18 percent of their donations.