Your digest

Encouraging Canadians to donate in honour of #NovaScotiaStrong: This past April, Canadians were shocked to learn of the tragic mass shooting that took the lives of more than 20 Nova Scotians. Canadians from coast-to-coast shared their grief and offered their support through the message “Nova Scotia Strong”. In honour of those affected by the April events, we are launching the #NovaScotiaStrong campaign, a two-week national blood donor recruitment event to honour the victims. From August 14–31, Canadian Blood Services is asking Canadians to donate blood at their nearest donor centre or mobile event. We encourage you to share your support on social media to inspire others and tag @CanadasLifeline using the hashtags #NovaScotiaStrong #NSStrong and #CanadasLifeline. Learn more at blood.ca and keep an eye out for coverage of this important campaign next week.

Helping parents manage back-to-school anxiety: No doubt, the start of this school year is filled with uncertainties that are causing understandable stress for many parents and caretakers. During yesterday’s townhall, a number of you submitted questions about which resources were available for parents to manage feelings of stress and anxiety as kids return to school in a pandemic. In addition to the resources available on your employee wellness portal, our partner LifeSpeak is hosting an online confidential “ask the expert” seminar on Wednesday, August 19 at 12 p.m. ET specifically on this topic. Register now using the login password “thrive.” We are exploring other resources for our teams as we head into September, so please keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more information on managing back-to-school stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Surprise meeting motivates lifelong donor to keep donating plasma: In January, Brian Boyd unexpectedly met a young woman who relies on donated plasma to treat an immune deficiency. Cayleigh Kearns made a surprise visit to the donor centre in London, Ont., to the delight of Brian and several others enjoying post-donation snacks and conversation. “It was such a heartwarming experience,” Brian says. “Few of us ever get to meet those who benefit directly from our donations.” Now 73, Brian has donated whole blood and blood components, such as plasma, a remarkable 1,167 times. Read more on blood.ca/stories

DIY fundraising — a lifeline for patients: As a kid, Neill accompanied his father to his blood donation appointments and always imagined that when he was old enough, he would become a blood donor himself. Soon after meeting the age requirements for blood donation, Neill was diagnosed with leukemia. Instead of being able to give the gift of life, Neill now had to rely on blood products to survive. Given the impact that blood products have had on his own life, Neill had long wanted to be able to give back. He decided to launch a fundraising campaign that would pair his passion for cycling with his drive to help patients in need of blood products. Averaging about 30–60km per ride on his bike — and having raised more than $2,000 just halfway through his challenge — Neill is well on his way to meeting his goal of $3,200 by October. Head over to blood.ca/stories to learn more about Neill’s story and how you can launch your own fundraising campaign through resources available on give.blood.ca/diy.

Question of the day: What were the results for the diversity, equity and inclusion survey? When will we see the results?

In our townhalls, with our teams and with our colleagues, we have had very rich discussions about what we are doing to address gaps here at Canadian Blood Services — and importantly, what work still needs to be done.  

The diversity, equity and inclusion employee assessment is a critical part of this important work. Thank you to all of you who took the time to participate in this important data gathering exercise — over 2,100 employees completed the survey.  We also want to extend a special thank you to those who chose to schedule an interview with our third-party consultants at Feminuity, to further share your experiences, stories, ideas and concerns in a confidential space.

So, what’s next? Our diversity, equity and inclusion subject-matter experts and partners at Feminuity are now in the process of incorporating paper surveys with the electronic data sets. They are analyzing the data to produce a report. The results of the survey have not yet been shared with Canadian Blood Services as it is important for Feminuity to produce summary reports to protect individual responses. Once the results and analysis are complete and received by Canadian Blood Services the outcomes will be shared with leaders and employees.

The key findings from this assessment will help us do better. They will be shared organization-wide in the coming weeks and used to build and inform our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Thank you again for the efforts you have made to participate in this important discussion, especially at a time when everyone is challenged with balancing so many responsibilities, including work, home life, caregiving and many other tasks. 

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About your digest   

This digest will highlight the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters.  No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.     

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Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca