Vegreville Hosts Successful Blood Donor Clinic

Vegreville Hosts Successful Blood Donor Clinic

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

A total of 49 pints of blood were collected during the Blood Donor Clinic at the Vegreville Social Centre on March 31.

One of those pints of blood came from Vegreville Mayor Tim MacPhee. It was the first time MacPhee has ever donated blood.

He explained that Canadian Blood Services had asked the town if they would be willing to have a clinic in the community, they answered the call. “I felt I should do my part here. I’ve never given blood, but I set up the blood donor clinic many many times as a Kinsmen years ago, and I helped out all the time. We used to unload it every night and then when they were done we’d put it back on the trucks for them. I thought I’m going to show the community that it’s still a safe thing done the right way, which they did. The isolation part they did a very good job on that. I just wanted to show the community that it is still safe to give blood and the need is still there.

Vegreville Mayor Tim MacPhee donates blood for the first time and had the support of longtime volunteer Marion Baxandall, who serves as a member of the Vegreville Royal Purple. (Submitted Photo)

Now I’m going to get one of those blood donor cards in the mail in a month and next time I go I’ll know exactly what I’m doing. It was a very good experience and nice to have Marion Baxandall there. I remember when they used to do this at the Elks hall and she was there then. That was 32 years ago when she was volunteering her time. She came over right away and asked how I was doing. You don’t need to worry it’s very painless and it’s over in a hurry. And she was right.”

Nicole Russell, Territory Manager for Canadian Blood Services, wanted to express how appreciative the organization is to the Town of Vegreville for allowing us to use the Social Centre for our donor centre during this time,” said Nicole Russell, Territory Manager for Canadian Blood Services.

Because of COVID-19, Russel explained, “We had to reduce the number of beds and appointments to enable us to practice physical distancing in the donor centre, so although this number seems lower than what people might be used to in Vegreville, we had a lower target.”

Canadian Blood Services will also be increasing the number of times they will be in Vegreville. “We will be doubling our number of donor centres in the Town of Vegreville, with our next two currently planned for on Monday, June 15, and Tuesday, June 30.”

Anyone can book an appointment to donate blood at the Edmonton location, or any location across Canada, added Russell. “We urge donors to book appointments over the next few weeks to help maintain an adequate level of blood and blood products for patients in Canada. Since blood products have a limited shelf life, demand is constant. We will keep reminding people about this as we work through the evolving COVID-19 situation.”