When Corinne Standefer retires as a volunteer from the Lane Blood Center in Eugene, Ore., this month, she will have donated 37 years of her life — and almost 19 gallons of blood.
The 89-year-old gave her first pint decades ago to help a friend who had cancer.
“When they called me and said ‘Could you donate again?’ I just started coming in,” she recalled.
So, every eight or nine weeks — as often as it’s allowed — Standefer would roll up a sleeve and become one of the prized older donors who contribute the bulk of the U.S. blood supply. Overall, nearly 60% of blood donations come from people over 40 — and nearly 45% come from people older than 50, according to the AABB, an international non-profit focused on transfusion medicine and cellular therapies.
The problem is many regulars are aging out of the donor pool. Increasingly, blood industry experts say, there are too few young people lining up to replace them.
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