DAYTON — Solvita needs donors, especially type O, to ready the blood supply for assistance with the Hurricane Milton relief effort.

Solvita is a member of the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, a group of 37 blood centers that help each other meet immediate transfusion needs when faced with a large-scale emergency.

BERC has been activated to support the needs of SunCoast Blood Centers in Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice, Florida which took a direct hit from Hurricane Milton. Solvita is preparing for its on-call duty to provide blood beginning Monday, Oct. 14, and continuing through Oct. 20.

“Blood collections in Florida have been severely disrupted by Hurricane Milton and we expect this disruption to continue indefinitely,” said Solvita Vice President for Donor Services Tracy Morgan. “With the help of donors, we must be prepared to assist, even as we face our local problems with low supply.”

All blood types are in low supply, including a rare critical shortage of type A-positive blood. Solvita must set aside multiple units of type O blood for BERC assistance to Florida.

Donors have an opportunity to support hurricane relief, the local blood supply, and the fight against cancer by donating at the “Pink Out Blood Drive” Oct. 11-19 at the Solvita Dayton Center, 349 S. Main St.

Everyone who registers to donate will get a $15 Kroger gift card, the “Fight Cancer” October Breast Cancer Awareness Month T-shirt, and a pink carnation, and will be automatically entered in the drawing to win two tickets to the Ohio State vs. Michigan game on Nov. 30 in Columbus.

Walk-ins are welcome at the Solvita Dayton Center, or schedule your donation on the Donor Time app, by calling 937-461-3220, or by visiting www.donortime.com.

You can save time while helping save lives by using “DonorXPress” to complete the donor questionnaire before arriving at a blood drive.

Find DonorXPress on the Donor Time App or at www.solvita.org/donorxpress.