There is a national shortage of blood and now the Red Cross is asking people to donate.

Blood donations save lives, but the Red Cross says its numbers are down this time of year because of both winter weather canceling blood drives and people getting sick.

Experts hope enough donors come forward to help to avoid a more devastating shortage like last year.

The Red Cross supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood and it tries to have a five-day supply of it ready to go at hospitals.

"I think for the most part, at least around here, we're typically at three, if not better,” said Matt Trotter, the spokesman for the American Red Cross in Oklahoma and Kansas. “So that's pretty good. Again, we'd like to see five, but where we're at we're much more comfortable than we were a year ago."

Experts hope to bring donation numbers up to avoid another blood crisis.

"Thankfully, things have improved but we're still looking at an urgent need right now,” said Trotter. “And we're trying to prevent getting to a situation like that."

He says the group is trying to catch up nationwide because of donations it missed during the winter storms.

"After Christmas, we had severe weather across the United States, with winter storms and everything, and we saw hundreds of blood drives get canceled, and that added up to about 9,000 blood and platelet donations that didn't get collected,” said Trotter.

He says part of the problem is thousands of people are eligible to donate blood but don’t.

"About 60 percent of the nation is eligible to donate blood, but out of that, only about three percent of people do give blood,” said Trotter. “So when you think about how small the donor pool is, and how common blood transfusions are in hospitals, it's a really tough situation to start with."

Trotter wants more people to make giving blood part of their routine- even if it’s been years since THEY donated.

“We know there are a lot of people out there who maybe haven't given in a while, or who have never donated blood,” said Trotter. “And we would really like to see those people in the new year, maybe make a resolution to roll up their sleeve and maybe help some people out."

You can visit the Red Cross’s website to find out if you’re eligible and where to donate, CLICK HERE.