by Lucie Roy
At the Blood Donor Clinic held on Tuesday night, Sheila Scharmann donated blood and wrote a positive message to a sick child. The card and bead will be given to a child at the Stollery Children’s Hospital who needs blood or blood products.
This is part of the January “a Little Bead Can Go a Long Way.. Be Part of a Sick Child’s Beaded Journey.” It is a Be Brave project that started last year by the Canadian Blood Services in partnership with the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
Each bead in the child’s necklace represents a procedure or treatment that the child has undergone on their journey back to health.
Recent changes affecting blood donors criteria are also in effect.
There is no longer an upper age limit to donate blood and the donation intervals for females has changed, for the men it remains at 56 days. As of December 10, female donors are encouraged to book their next appointment at 84 instead of 56 days to protect their iron levels.
The next clinics are 56 days booking into Tuesday, March 28 from 2:30- 7:30 pm, and 84 days booking into Thursday, April 27 from 3-7 pm.
