Labor Day is Missing Something: A, B & O

Our Blood Institute asks donors to help make up for 700+ blood donations expected to be missed over the Labor Day holiday. September 2, 2026 ─ Labor Day may have A, B and O in its name, but the holiday weekend could leave those blood types, and others, missing from hospital shelves.

Our Blood Institute expects to lose more than 700 blood donations due to the Labor Day holiday, when businesses close, blood drives are canceled and regular donation routines are interrupted. Donors can help fill the gap ahead of the holiday during OBI’s Beef Council blood drives Thursday, Sept. 3, and Friday, Sept. 4, at all OBI donor centers.

Donors will receive an all beef hot dog, courtesy of the Oklahoma Beef Council, as well as Our Blood Institute's new Halloween-themed T-shirt.

Can't make it to a donor center? OBI also has mobile blood drives happening in communities across the region. Donors can find a convenient blood drive near them and help keep the blood supply strong heading into the holiday weekend.

Help us put the A, B & O back in Labor Day. Donors of all blood types are needed, with a special call to O donors, whose red blood cells are critical for emergencies, and AB donors, whose plasma can be given to patients of any blood type.

“Blood needs don’t take a holiday,” said Dr. John Armitage, president and CEO of Our Blood Institute. “Losing more than 700 donations in just a few days has a real impact. We’re asking donors to make giving blood or plasma part of their Labor Day plans.”

Donors can help before, during and immediately following the holiday by scheduling an appointment at an Our Blood Institute donor center or mobile blood drive. Anyone who is healthy and 16 years old* or older can give blood. Blood can be donated every 56 days and platelets can be given as often as every seven days, up to 24 times a year.

Appointments to donate can be made online at obi.org or by calling 877-340-8777. *16-year-olds must weigh at least 125 pounds and provide signed parental permission; 17-year-olds must weigh at least 125 pounds; 18+ year-olds must weigh at least 110 pounds. Photo ID required.

### Our Blood Institute is the sixth-largest independent blood center in the nation, with 17 donor centers in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. OBI is the nonprofit blood provider for patients at more than 280 hospitals, medical facilities and air ambulances across all three states.