We ain’t scared of needles!
Hamid Adem
Contributor
Canadian Blood Services will be visiting Keele campus in the months of November, January, March, and July. For this month, they will be on campus from November 14 until November 18 at the Bear Pit in Central Square.
However, you must fulfill a few requirements before rolling up your sleeve. You must be 17 years or older, in good health, and must be at least 110 pounds to donate.
“Approximately only three per cent of the eligible population donates,” says a representative from Canadian Blood Services. “We have advertisements on TV, radios, and newspapers. We need to make more people aware of the cause and essentially of the benefits that it will have.”
Some first-time donors even wanted to be consistent donors, despite the fact that they had never donated blood before.
“We were walking past Central Square when we saw the booth and we wanted to register,” said a student donor who came with her friend. “The volunteers explained the process to us and gave us a binder to explain where the blood goes and how it’s being used.”
“We want to make this a regular thing,” her friend noted, joking about getting to eat free junk food afterwards for a good cause.
According to Canadian Blood Services, the York community always comes out ready to part with their blood via needle and tubes.
“Approximately every year 1,522 students from York go out to support the blood drive that is on campus,” says the representative. “We get an approximate 1,141 units of blood from these donations per year.”
