Although this is a few weeks late, I feel as though I have to take the time to applaud Bonnyville for a great showing at the local blood donor clinic earlier this month.
After Canadian Blood Services (CBS) reached out to the media and called on all Canadians to come out and donate, Bonnyville stepped up to the plate and delivered.
A total of 205 people attended the clinic, including 70 first timers, to donate blood and do their part in restoring Canada's low blood supply.
According to Susan Masumoto, Director of Donor Relations for Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, the summer months saw extremely low attendance rates at blood donor clinics across Canada.
This, combined with the constant need for blood, cause the national inventory to be used faster than it could be replenished.
“To put it into perspective, our goal is to have five to eight days on hand for any particular blood group and right now four of our eight blood groups have been at about three days on hand,” said Masumoto.
Of the 205 attendees at the Bonnyville clinic, CBS was able to collect 155 usable donations.
While that number does seem small it is 35 more useable donations than CBS was expecting from the Bonnyville area.
The local blood drive included 226-booked appointments, 43 no-shows and 63 walk-ins.
For one person in attendance the blood clinic marked the 92nd time they were donating blood, for another it was their 89th donation. Another local reached the milestone of their 25th donation. For me, it was my fifth time donating blood.
Although I had booked an appointment and already planned on attending, the conversations I had with Masumoto and other CBS workers gave me extra motivation to attend the clinic.
It is at times like this, when the blood bank is low, that Canadians have to do their part and donate.
Since I attended the clinic I can say first hand that it was a success.
The clinic was packed with people the entire time I was there and had a steady stream of people walking through the door all night.
I would like to offer a special thanks to all of the workers and volunteers who were there collecting the donations and helping the clinic run. The clinic ran, slightly short-handed, at the Bonnyville Centennial Centre from 2 p.m. to almost 10 p.m.
Although the clinic should be seen as a success I feel Bonnyville can do better.
I think a town of 6,921 should be able to get more than 205 people to come out to something as important and necessary as a blood donor clinic.
I hope next time more citizens of the Lakeland take the time out of their day to donate to a good cause.
