Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Ohio is asking Toledo-area residents to roll up a sleeve later this month. The mentoring organization will host a community blood drive with the American Red Cross on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wayman D. Palmer YMCA, 200 E. Bancroft St. in Toledo, the organization announced in a release published through EIN Presswire.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Ohio is leading donor recruitment and community outreach for the drive, while the Red Cross handles the collection itself. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or visiting RedCrossBlood.org and entering the sponsor code BBBSNWO, according to the organization’s release.
Donors who give successfully at the drive will receive a $10 Amazon gift card and 200 bonus points, and free A1C testing will be offered, the release said. The organization framed the drive as an extension of its mentoring mission: “Our commitment to young people includes showing them what it means to care for their community,” Dr. Marvin Whitfield, the organization’s CEO, told EIN Presswire in the release.
The need behind the drive is real. The release cited the Red Cross’s July 2026 declaration of a national blood supply crisis, with O-type donors especially needed. Blood supplies typically tighten heading into the holiday season, when donations dip but hospital demand does not.
The drive also gives the organization’s mentors and supporters a visible way to model the community service the program teaches. Big Brothers Big Sisters pairs volunteer mentors with young people across Lucas and Wood counties, and its leaders cast the Nov. 21 event as neighbors helping neighbors in the most literal sense — the blood collected at community drives goes to hospital patients in the region, including accident victims, surgery patients and people in cancer treatment.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Ohio has operated locally since 1937 and serves more than 1,500 young people a year in Lucas and Wood counties, pairing them with adult mentors. The Nov. 21 drive at the Palmer YMCA is open to the community, and organizers are encouraging supporters, mentors and first-time donors alike to book an appointment slot ahead of time using the BBBSNWO sponsor code.