Canadian Blood Services thanks the 17,000 Volunteers who selflessly dedicated 225,000 hours to help save lives

Canadian Blood Services celebrates National Volunteer Week

April 16, 2012 (OTTAWA) - As we celebrate National Volunteer Week (April 15 – 21), Canadian Blood Services thanks the 17,000 volunteers who dedicated 225,000 hours of their time in the last year to help support Canada’s blood system.

Nation-wide, our volunteers are getting involved and helping to save lives. They coordinate and host blood donor clinics, greet and assist donors, and speak publicly about the need for blood and stem cell donation.

Canadian Blood Services has many stories we could tell of our many volunteers across Canada, but one volunteer group in particular stands out as a shining example of how rallying together helps save lives.

The Westlock Nurses Chapter of Alberta has volunteered with the blood system for over fifty years. Because of their work, blood donor clinics in Westlock have grown from semi-annual events to regular bi-monthly clinics collecting more than 100 units of blood at each clinic. In a town of just over 4,800 people, that’s an impressive number.

Beyond recruitment and education, the Westlock Nurses Chapter’s excellent customer service throughout the donation process is another major factor in keeping donors coming back. Donors are greeted with an enthusiastic smile at each part of the process, and at the end a crew is solely responsible for making sandwiches from scratch for each donor.

With over 50 years of service with the blood system, it is an admirable feat that few other service groups have achieved. They are an inspiration not only to other Canadian Blood Services volunteers, but to anyone who wants to make a difference in their community.

To find out more about volunteer opportunities at Canadian Blood Services, please call 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or visit www.blood.ca.

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