Local blood banks say donations are at their lowest levels in two years. A big reason for that has been the winter weather.

The Red Cross has had to cancel 500 drives across the country over the last several weeks, and locally, the weather has had a direct impact on hundreds of donors.

Empty chairs at Miller-Keystone Blood Center. Empty seats lead to empty coolers. A lack of blood has left Miller-Keystone to rely on its volunteers to roll up their sleeves in place of donors. Shirley Ferreri of Hellertown is one of them.

“I give blood every eight weeks. I enjoy it,” Ferreri said.

Shirley is one of only about 3% of people who are regular blood donors. Locally, Miller-Keystone Blood Center has had to cancel a dozen blood drives since November.

“Cancer patients are still getting treatment during this time. When we had that snowstorm, we had to cancel Lehigh University; we had 42 donors on the schedule. We also had to cancel another blood drive, and that had about 15 to 20 donors on the schedule. When we lose donors, we are not able to get them back,” said Krista Brodbeck of Miller-Keystone.

Miller-Keystone entered an extreme shortage level in January for the first time in two years. The only level more severe is emergency level, which they last entered in 2022.

Nationally, the Red Cross has canceled 500 blood drives in recent weeks, resulting in a shortage of 20,000 units, or pints. Weather is the culprit.

“A lot of our drives are held at schools and universities. So when they were closed or went to virtual classroom settings, that can lead to a drive being canceled,” said Peter Brown of the American Red Cross.

Miller-Keystone supplies blood to 30 hospitals in the Greater Lehigh Valley. And right now, they’re relying on volunteers like Ferreri more than they should be.

“She is wonderful. She is always talkative,” said Brodbeck.

“Come on out. Get some snacks. Meet some nice people and you’ll feel good about it too,” Ferreri said.

Miller-Keystone Blood Center needs to see about 350 people every day. They’re currently seeing about 250. So the staff is throwing out a challenge: They want 100 69 News viewers to sign up to donate by Friday.

Just go to giveapint.org, the Miller-Keystone website, and grab a slot.