Demand for blood donors continues through holidays

Boxing Day was quiet at many Canadian Blood Services Clinics across the Maritimes Friday, however the demand for blood continues.

Peter MacDonald, director of donor relations for CBS in Atlantic Canada, says it's a problem they struggle with every year.

"Leading into Christmas weve had strong donor attendance of all our clinics," he said. "But now in the period between Christmas and New Years, our appointment books are a little bit empty, and here on Boxing Day has been particularly low."

Out of 52 available appointments on Bayers Road in Halifax, only 10 were booked heading into Boxing Day.

Those numbers are on par with other parts of the Maritimes. In Moncton, 20 people came out to donate. In Saint John, six people signed up.

There is also a clinic in Charlottetown, with 14 people booked ahead of time to donate.

Canadian Blood Services is hopeful more people will drop in as some blood products only have a shelf life of five days. Many people, including cancer patients, need the donations over the holidays.

"Hospital patients dont get that time off and the need for blood is constant," saidMacDonald.

"One cancer patient can use the blood from up to eight donors. And those therapies will continue over Christmas and into the new year, and that's where the need and the fact that the product is organic and blood has a shelf life is so critical at this time of year."

Helping out

Several of the people at the clinic on Friday were regular donors.

For Sandy Gillis, it's a routine.

"Currently I'm a match for somebody at the hospital," he said. "So I come in every two weeks and sit here for an hour and they take as much platelets as they can get."

Gillis has donated nearly 100 times over several decades.

"I think people should come in and give it a try. Its relatively painless and pretty quick and the staff here are great," he said.

Paul Keeping and his wife showed up early Friday morning to donate blood. Keeping says it's the fifth time they've done so over the holidays.

"It's important to come in and donate an hour of your time, give some blood, give back," he said. "You never know when you'll need it. Hopefully you never will."

Donations are being collected in Saint John, Charlottetown, Moncton and Halifax over the weekend.

If people want to donate, MacDonald encourages people to call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283), or visit blood.ca to make an appointment.