(BLACK PR WIRE/FAMU-TALLAHASSEE) – How many blood donors do you know? The obvious answer for most Americans is not many. Statistics reveal that every two seconds in America, someone is in dire need of a blood transfusion. Yet according to the American Red Cross, only five percent of eligible people in the United States actually donate. 

Nationwide less than two percent of eligible black Americans are donors, and unfortunately a large percentage of blacks needing blood transfusions have rare blood types. Rare blood types require an exact blood type match, which is most often found within its own race. So the next question is, why don’t blacks give? 

Many blacks have been uneducated or misinformed about the intense need for black blood donors and the simple process donating blood entails. Here are some facts: donating blood only takes one pint out of the 10 to 12 pints of blood in the body, you must be healthy, 17 years of age or older and you must weigh at least 110 lbs. Donating just one pint of blood can go a long way. In fact, according to the Red Cross, one unit of blood can be separated into components and used to treat up to three patients. 

The increase of blood donations within the black community would potentially cut down some of the untimely deaths from predominantly black health issues such as sickle cell disease, prostate cancer and lupus.