Your digest

Reminder: Nominations close tonight for the Living Our Values awards

Today is your last chance to nominate an individual or team for a Living Our Values (LOV) Award of Distinction! Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, July 9. We know this is a busy time of year for many, but we also know that taking a moment to recognize your colleagues who have continued to live our values throughout the COVID-19 pandemic can have positive psychological benefits for both nominator and nominee. If you haven’t yet had the chance to nominate someone who strongly exemplifies our ICARE values (integrity, collaboration, adaptability, respect and excellence), be sure to take the time today to reflect on the past year and on the incredible work and commitment of your colleagues, and nominate someone for a LOV award! More details are available on Connect.

‘It’s a beautiful way to celebrate the start of our daughter’s life’

When Rebecca Munk gave birth to her second child in June, donating her umbilical cord blood felt like “the most natural thing to do.” As a pediatric anesthesiologist in Vancouver, B.C., Rebecca works with children undergoing cancer treatments and has seen firsthand the lifesaving difference that stem cell transplants can make for patients and their families. “It’s heartbreaking to watch patients and their families struggle to find stem cell donors who match their loved ones,” says Rebecca’s husband, Tyler, who is also a physician. “Our ability to help another family in their time of need is a wonderful gift and a beautiful way to celebrate the start of our daughter’s life.” Read Rebecca and Tyler’s story on blood.ca and stay tuned for more inspiring stories throughout July, as we continue to celebrate Cord Blood Awareness Month.

Q&A with Andrew Pateman: Cultivating resilience during COVID-19

The last year has tested our resilience on many fronts, both personal and professional. In a recent interview with Deloitte Canada, Andrew Pateman, vice-president of people, culture and performance at Canadian Blood Services, reflected on the resilience of our workforce during the pandemic and the importance of mental health and wellness in reinforcing that resilience. “[The pandemic] has tested the limits of our creativity about what we can do in real time and how we can continue to be present for employees, give them the support they need [and] to make sure they have access to that support,” he says. Read the full Q&A with Andrew to learn more about some of the challenges and opportunities that senior leadership has faced in cultivating resilience within our organization during COVID-19.

Question of the day: Why are we still using single-use plastic water bottles in our donor centres?

Prior to the pandemic, Canadian Blood Services had been looking to significantly reduce single-use plastic bottle consumption at our donor centres and donation events by encouraging the use of reusable containers.

Due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, however, we have had to close on-site water fountains and return to a single-use water bottle model for our refreshment stations.

To balance pandemic safety measures with our sustainability efforts, we have sourced a new ‘green’ vendor for our single-use water bottles, Ice River Green Bottle Co.

This family-owned and -operated Canadian company sources its own water and offers a bottle that is 100 per cent recyclable, making it a green choice for a single-use bottle.

Visit Connect to learn more about this and other environmental sustainability initiatives our organization is undertaking.

Read more on Connect about why we have made the decision to maintain current measures and policies.

About your digest

This digest highlights 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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