Murray Wood: Who's scary... and who's scary good?
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It’s the season of giving, and while many of us usually spend this time thinking about what gifts we’d like to get for our loved ones, we probably haven’t given too much thought to donating blood.
Gayle Voyer, the associate director of donor relations and collections with Canadian Blood Services (CBS), said the organization is always in need of donations — especially at this time of the year.
“It’s important for us to continue to collect blood donations, platelet donations and plasma donations for patients in need,” she told Gormley on Monday.
“The need doesn’t go away, but we do get distracted at this time of year and so it’s a great time to remind people to continue to come out and donate and book those appointments.”
Once blood is donated, it is tested and then broken down into different products depending on patient needs. Those products include red blood cells, platelets and plasma.
“It could be for cancer patients (or) it could be for someone with an immune disorder,” Voyer said. “Once it’s used, then it can be used for a number of things for patients.”
Voyer is asking people to participate in the “Give 3 in 2023” initiative, which asks Canadians to contribute to CBS in various ways.
Donations of blood or plasma count in the campaign, but so do making financial contributions, sharing posts about the campaign on social media or encouraging others to participate counts as well, according to Voyer.
People also have the options to become an organ or tissue donor or even join CBS’s stem cell registry.
“If a patient is in need of a stem cell transplant, we would go to that registry to match the patient with the donor,” Voyer said.
“By registering, you can go online, fill in a form and then we do a cheek swab that goes into our database. Then when a patient is in need, you may be the one selected to save that patient’s life.”
The initiative will go on throughout the holiday season and into the new year.
People must be between the ages of 17 and 35 in order to be eligible to donate stem cells.
“If someone hasn’t donated before, it’s really a great time — especially with our ‘3 in 2023’ — to start today and jump on that bandwagon,” Voyer said.
“It’s not a matter of ‘Will you help?’ It’s that you are helping patients in need and families right here in your community.”
For more information, visit the CBS website.
