Florida blood banks fill to capacity after Orlando shooting

An outpouring of support from blood donors across the state has more than met the need created by the tragedy in Orlando. Right now, blood banks are saying thanks, but please come back later.

Some Tallahassee blood banks were already scheduled to be open Sunday, but one had to call in additional staff to handle the wave of donors who showed up.

"My heart hurts over what happened and its something tangible," Karen Woodall, a blood donor, said. "One small thing that will hopefully help."

But everyone asked to come back to help meet an ongoing need. Laura Green signed up to come back another day.

"It could happen anywhere, anywhere, and it's something small just about all of us can all do," Green said.

Matthea Gans settled in with a good book for what would be a 90 minute procedure.

"Even if the people in Orlando don't need it now, they do really need to replenish their supply," Gans said.

OneBlood operates more than 200 donations and Big Red Bus mobile donation units across the state. They say the need is almost always greater than the supply, except today.

"It is the blood on the shelves that saves lives and people need to give blood every single day of the week to make sure we all have enough to save us when we need it," Jeanne Dariotis, with OneBlood, said.

Follow the link attached to this article for a list of local blood drives happening throughout the week.