June 11th to June 17th is National Blood Donor Week and the Lethbridge Plasma Centre are celebrating by holding an open house on Tuesday.
The theme this year is ‘Shine a Light’, Business Development Manager at the Lethbridge Plasma Centre, Brenna Scott says the organization is hoping to have more residents donate.
“We’re really hoping to shine a light on the need for new donors, we’re thanking our loyal donors who have donated to help patients and were also calling on more people to join in this summer as we really have a number of appointments that are still open and need to be filled throughout the summer months.”
Scott mentions the open house will be on Tuesday, June 13th from 4 to 6 p.m. at the centre and is open to anyone from the public to attend.
“What’s great about this open house is, if you have some questions about plasma that you want answered before booking that first appointment, you want to see a tour of the centre, this ia a great opportunity to do so,” says Scott.
There will be some food, and those that attend will be able to see the process as there will be some community members there donating.
Vice-President of Public Affairs with Canadian Blood Services’, Ron Vezina says, “Typically we expect to see challenges filling appointments in the summer, when people are distracted by nice weather and vacation plans. This year the lag has hit sooner than we expected.”
“We know there are major events impacting people in various communities across the country, but we can’t pause the need for blood. We still need people to make blood and plasma donation a priority now and going into the summer months,” adds Vezina
This year, Canadian Blood Services are looking to get 16,000 units of blood and 3,000 units of plasma every week. The Lethbridge Plasma Centre also has over 1,200 appointments a month that need to be filled.
Those interested in donating or want more information can go to the Canadian Blood Services website.