The bad news is that a lot of high school students had tender spots on their arms for a day or two. The great news is they all made a huge contribution by donating blood to Canadian Blood Services as part of its local high school challenge.
St. Albert Catholic High, Bellerose and Paul Kane each competed against one another to get the greatest number of Grade 12 donors possible. In the end, Paul Kane won with 63 donations and the competition overall helped to save more than 400 lives.
Candace Korchinsky, communications specialist with the national blood agency, was thrilled with the results.
“It was pretty positive for us,” she stated.
Bellerose came in with 53 donations and St. Albert High had 24 donations, bringing the total to 140 donations. Considering that each donation can help save up to three lives, enough blood was collected to help up to 420 patients in need.
“Any time we can recruit 140 new donors that have come in to give blood for the first time, that potentially tells us that that’s 140 people that may continue to give blood throughout their lives.”
The challenge is expected to continue next year but modified so that it coincides with a national competition called the Young Blood for Life program. Paul Kane is already registered.
Eligible individuals can begin donating blood as early as 17 years of age. Eligible donors can give blood every 56 days or six times a year until they are 71 years old. Various conditions apply regarding the donor’s basic health including weight and blood characteristics.
The next public blood donor clinics will be held on Monday, March 14 at the Holy Family Catholic Church located at 75 Poirier Ave. from 3 to 8 p.m. and also on Saturday, March 26 at the Alliance Church on Villeneuve Road from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Please call 1-888- 2-DONATE (2-366283) to book an appointment. Visit blood.ca for more info.
