New Red Cross blood donation Web site

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The American Red Cross in Washington has created a single Web site to make it easier for people to donate blood.

The Web site replaces the individual Blood Region Web sites, as well as the national site previously hosted at givelife.org.

The U.S. blood supply needs to be continuously replenished. Of the U.S. population, only 38 percent are eligible to donate blood, but only 8 percent donate blood.

Redcrossblood.org allows visitors to easily find local blood donation opportunities and view local Red Cross news by simply entering their ZIP code.

Donors may also search for blood drives by date range, distance, city, state or sponsor code and schedule a donation online. The Web site lists blood drive volunteer openings and enables visitors to register their interest to host a blood drive.

There is also a "share your story" feature available for donors to share testimonials about blood donation, free e-cards and direct access to Red Cross social networking sites.

"This site has been designed to be user-friendly and informative," Chris Hrouda, executive vice president, American Red Cross Biomedical Services, said in a statement.

"We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to find a blood drive, schedule a donation and get any information they may need about giving blood."