There are a lot of ways that you can help others. You can give money, volunteer, raise awareness, the list goes on. There is one way of helping, however, that you may not have given much thought…giving blood. You may not know this, but next to doctors, hospitals, and equipment, blood is one of the most important things for a functional health system. Unfortunately there are times when blood is in short supply. You may be thinking, can’t they just make more blood? Well, in spite of numerous medical advancements, we still cannot manufacture blood. This means that the only way to get blood is through donations. So, whenever a car crashes somewhere, somebody falls down the stairs, or is injured due to violence, they will most likely need blood in order to survive. This is especially true in the developing world where car crashes, violence, and natural disasters take a high human toll. Organizations like the Red Cross do everything they can to make sure that hospitals and doctors in these places get the blood they need, but they can only do that with the help of people like you. These are 25 important things you should know about donating blood.
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To get it out of the way, you've probably heard by now that the blood you donate is sold to hospitals
Source: wikipedia And that it's a $4.5 billion dollar per year industry
Source: wikipedia, Image: pixabay While this is true, it shouldn't keep you from donating. Why? Every blood donation center has costs, lots of them. It needs to hire staff and fund equipment. Taking blood is expensive. Who do you think paid for your "free" I Donated Blood t-shirt?
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia Besides, your blood is needed. In fact, every two seconds someone in the US needs blood
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia Just one pint of your blood can save up to 3 lives
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia 
