Canadian Blood Services is rallying communities across the country to come together and show that collectively, blood donations can make a lifesaving impact on someone’s life.
The theme National Blood Donor Week (June 11-16) this year is The Power of Many – because it takes many donors to help save the life of a hospital patient. In fact, every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood.
The World Health Organization has declared Thursday (June 14) of every year as World Blood Donor Day, a day to honour those who give the gift of life. Throughout the world, 192 WHO member states, 181 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, and 50 national voluntary blood donor organizations and blood transfusion specialists have agreed to support the day each year.
Blood donors in Canada are the lifeblood of their communities, and their acts of kindness and generosity should be honoured with a national week of celebration.
This year, Canadian Blood Services needs to collect more than 915,000 units of blood and recruit 89,000 new donors to help meet patient and hospital demand.
In the British Columbia and Yukon region, it needs 130,000 donations this year and recruit 14,500 new donors. By 2015, it needs to grow its donor base by 100,000 new donors annually as the Canadian population age.
For more information, please go to www.blood.ca or call 1-888-236-6283.
Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the supply of blood and blood products in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec.