If you happen to notice letters missing from signs, social media pages and websites, the American Red Cross has done its job.
Or at least part of it.
The organization recently launched its Missing Types campaign to raise awareness of need for lifesaving blood donations and to urge the public to make appointments to give blood or platelets this summer.
Corporate and civic brands, celebrities and influencers have removed A’s, B’s and O’s — which make up the main blood groups — from public platforms.
Friday, during a news conference at the area American Red Cross, at 1299 Pineview Drive, community leaders got in on the action, including Monongalia County Delegate Danielle Walker and Sonja Wilson of West Virginia University.
The American Red Cross reports that just last month it had only six units of type O blood available for every 100,000 people, but face more than twice that need every day. And that 3% of people in the U.S. give blood, while blood transfusion remains one of the most common hospital procedures in the country.
The primary reason people don’t give, according to a survey conducted by the organization — they “never really thought about it.”
With Missing Types, the plan is to help turn that number around. Donors can make an appointment to give by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/MissingTypes, using the Red Cross Blood Donor App or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
