Photo Credit: Imran JabbarPhoto Credit: Imran Jabbar
The Canadian Blood Services (CBS) hosted a blood donation clinic at town hall on Friday, encouraging the Oakville community to take part and share what means the most.
“We come to town hall once a month. We have a very strong donor base here in Oakville,” said CBS supervisor Eileen Quinlan, 42. “One blood donation can save up to three people.” To kick off the day, CBS already had 177 booked appointments. “So far our numbers have been excellent today. Our goal is to collect 150 more appointments,” said Quinlan.
Donors can donate every 56 days and are usually booked in advanced. “We make sure we book our donors for every two months, keeping it consistent and manageable for everybody involved,” said Quinlan.
Consistent blood donor Christina Martins, 20, said, “giving blood is a wonderful and heart warming gesture. It saves lives, what more could one ask for? It is definitely an answer to our prayers.” Martins has been donating blood for the past year and has no interest in stopping. “I encourage all of my friends to give blood, it’s the least we can do to give back to what matters the most to us.”
Quinlan explained that a large number of people who come in to donate are unable to meet certain requirements. “Usually about 20 per cent of our visitors are unable to donate. We have certain requirements that surround stable health so not everybody has been able to donate due to these circumstances.”
The blood clinic program was initially started by Red Cross and was taken over in 2001 by the CBS.
For more information, call the Canadian Blood Service at 1-888-2-DONATE.