(KTNC) - A shortage of blood donors during the summer months has the American Red Cross putting out a call for donors at a series of blood drives early next month.
 April Oppliger with the Red Cross office in Omaha says the organization recently issued an emergency appeal for blood and platelet donors of all types.   (play audio   :15     “who need them.”)
 The 50,000 fewer donations in June is a national figure, which Oppliger says is about 10-percent less than what they expected to collect during the month.  She says it’s not unusual for the number of blood donations to decline during the summer months, with an average of two fewer donors per day at blood drives.  (play audio  :21   “80-percent.”)
 Oppliger says they need all types of blood, especially types O-negative, A-negative, and B-negative.  The Red Cross has scheduled several blood drives in southeast Nebraska in early August.  (play audio   :30    “4-H Building.”)
 (as said in cut) They will be in Falls City, at Prichard Auditorium, from 12:00 to 6:00 on August 1st and 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on August 2nd.  Blood drives will be held at Johnson-Brock High School from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. on August 1st, at the 4-H Building in Auburn on August 2nd, and on August 15th, from 10:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m., at the Methodist Church in Pawnee City.
 Anyone age 17 and older who weighs at least 110 pounds and is in good health can donate blood.  To make an appointment to donate blood and find out about upcoming blood drives, visit www.redcrossblood.org.
 The Midwest Chapter of the American Red Cross provides blood to hospitals in Nebraska, southwest Iowa, and in Nemaha and Marshall Counties in Kansas.