As elderly blood donors stop giving, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center needs to get younger donors to replace them. They say the key is education.
Josh Buckley of the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center says kids just need to get in the habit of donating.
"We do get out there to the high schools and colleges; in fact, 31% of our mobile collections come from high schools and colleges."
Buckley says the kids have big shoes to fill; older Americans have been generous.
"It's actually not a hard sell, really, it's just exposing them to it and they're really accepting of the education."
Buckley says kids like it if they try it.
"We encourage you -- just try it once and we really feel like you'll leave with a very rewarding experience, knowing that you saved up to three lives by just spending an hour of your time and that's what it's like committing for life."