Last week I decided to mark Valentine’s Day with an appointment to give blood and today is the day. I’m writing about it here because I’ve decided that Valentine’s Day should be associated with more than just chocolate, flowers, and cards. Why not add blood donation to the list?
Here’s the thing: A lot of blood and blood products are needed and this is the perfect time to remind people.
According to the Canadian Blood Services website, a car crash victim might need blood from 50 donors. A cancer patient needs up to five. They need an endless supply and donating is something that many of us can easily do.
Although I don’t LOVE the process of donating blood – it freaks me out a little bit but I do my best to play it cool – CBS has certainly made it easier for me to do so. Awhile back I created a personal account on the CBS website. It’s handy. I use it to make and change appointments; see a history of my donations, my hemoglobin level, and bleed time (*shiver* – would it surprise you to know it took me six minutes last time?); and receive the donor questionnaire ahead of time.
The best part of donating blood, other than the fact that you’re doing someone a great service, of course, are the cookies and juice at the end. It’s nice to be fussed over a little bit, isn’t it?
Anyway, there it is! I’m donating blood today. Wish me luck! If this post inspires one person to make an appointment to give blood this week, I’ll be happy. In fact, if you DO make an appointment, let me know in the comments below.
Let’s make blood donations at Valentine’s into a new tradition! (Although I vote for keeping the chocolate part of it too.)
If it’s been awhile since you donated? You may want to check changes in donor criteria.
Edited to add: I would like to give ONE Ottawa person who makes a blood donation a 340g bag of Me to We coffee! It’s medium roast, single origin ground coffee from Equador. Just make your appointment and leave your name below. I’ll pick a random name at the end of the month.
