The BloodCenter of Wisconsin needs your help: Donating blood is "something everyone can do"

MILWAUKEE --It's people like Michael Geary that help the BloodCenter of Wisconsin breathe a little sigh of relief. He tries to give blood whenever he can.

"I try to do it on a regular basis. You can schedule it regularly. In fact, I already made my appointment for the next time," said Geary.

But the BloodCenter of Wisconsin is still in desperate need of help.

"Right now we have about a day-and-a-half of supply of O-negative blood. We always like to have a three-day supply," said Fay Spano, BloodCenter of Wisconsin director of public relations.

The long holiday weekend and last week's winter storm (on Monday, December 28th) has been a bad combination for the BloodCenter of Wisconsin.

They were down more than 200 people at the Season of Giving Blood Drive last week.

"I was supposed to do it last Tuesday but I could not get back to Wisconsin from out-of-state because of the storm," said Geary.

There's commonly a dip in donations in January. That's why it's National Blood Donor Month.

"That is actually an official proclamation by the government since 1970 to do two things -- really to thank blood donors and also to encourage volunteer blood donation," said Spano.

BloodCenter of Wisconsin officials are hoping to fill up their beds as just one donation can save three lives.

You can even make it a New Year's resolution to help increase the only 5% of people who donate, by rolling up your sleeve.

"It`s a very small thing to do, but something that everyone can do," said Geary.