Officials with Memorial Blood Centers in the Twin Cities are putting out the call for donations.
Spokesman Corey Bianchi-Rossi says all types of blood are needed during a time of year when donations typically drop off.
"Often times it's not top of mind until something happens, right? So you know, an example would be the tragedy that took place over the summer with the Annunciation shooting," says Bianchi-Rossi. "And that brought to light the need for blood immediately and with that we saw a major spike with donations."
He says the blood banks have about a three to four-day supply of blood overall, leaving little margin for emergencies, severe weather or sudden spikes in hospital demand.
This is traditionally a tough time of year for blood donations too.
"People are on vacation, school schedules are off, there's sickness and weather challenges that will cause people to maybe not be able to make their donation schedule, even if they had planned on donated," Bianchi-Rossi explains.
Even though donations are lower this time of year, the demand is still there however.
Anyone wishing to donate blood can sign up at one of several Twin Cities donation sites at mbc.org.