Everyone should be doing it

What are you doing wasting your time here when it'sWorld Blood Donor Day? Go get a vein tapped and help save a life!

I have been donating blood since I turned 16 and I have to say it feels pretty good. It's also stunningly simple and as such I'm amazed that more people don't donate. The one thing I find the most rewarding about the whole thing, beyond the whole helping those in need thing, is the people you meet at the donor clinics. From the staff to the volunteers to the fellow donors, it is a legion of folk who genuinely care and want to help. You get to meet first time donors and congratulate their efforts and help them through their nerves over that initial donation. You get to meet people who have been giving for decades and those who give because they have received blood and never realized the impact tit could have on a life.

For those of you that donate, congratulations and thank you for your continued effort and sacrifice. For those that haven't, why don't you? If you have a medical reason or a fear of needles I can understand why, but if you think it takes too long or is too hard I urge you to try it, even once. You'll find that the time it takes to save a life or two is not that much at all, and they even give you a drink and cookies when it's all over. Tell me you didn't do stranger things as a child for a cookie.

After a good friend of mine underwent a transplant to knock out leukemia, I threw my name in the hat for bone marrow donation candidates as well, but you don't donate unless they find a match, which is in itself a lengthy and rare occasion. I figure if I can give someone else a shot at a longer life then maybe they can do more with it than I have been able to do with mine. I can't go again until the 8th of July as I already gave on May 13th, but I will be there.

So for those that give, keep up the good work. Try to bring a friend with you next time and see if we can bolster our ranks. In a time when people don't even stop to help each other in traffic anymore it is getting harder and harder to find people that care enough to give up some of their blood to help a complete stranger. For those that don't, try to find a friend that goes and tag along, but if you can't then you should go anyhow. The staff will walk you through the whole process and it is very easy. All you do is lay there. Many will buys food and go to the food bank. Many others will buy toys and clothes and bring them to a shelter. Hell, you go through all the effort and paperwork at tax time just so you can give the government a cheque, so why not just lay there and wait for some refreshments.

I'm done with my soapbox now, I'm going to pack some more of my stuff in it for Saturday.

If you are interested in joining those who give then you can find resources here and here.

Canada
Canadian Blood Services
Hema Quebec

USA
American Red Cross

United Kingdom
UK National Blood Service