Your Digest

Celebrating Asian heritage and addressing anti-Asian discrimination this May 

Canadian Blood Services is proud to celebrate Asian Heritage Month in May, as an opportunity to engage employees, volunteers, partners and our donor/registrant communities in honouring and reflecting on the lived experiences, histories, contributions and achievements of people of Asian heritage in Canada. We plan to spend much of the month sharing stories and resources that celebrate Asian excellence, along with educational materials and opportunities for learning and engagement. We will also use our platforms to build awareness of — and denounce — all forms of anti-Asian racism and discrimination. Visit Connect to explore educational resources and read stories about the important contributions to Canada’s Lifeline by people of Asian heritage.   

Mass notification system tests scheduled for May 17-18   

While emergency situations where a notice would need to be sent to all staff in a particular location are rare, we do need to test our notification system from time to time to ensure it's working properly and is up to date. In collaboration with our local emergency response teams (LERTs), we have scheduled upcoming tests of our mass notification service provided by Everbridge. These tests will happen after regular business hours in various locations throughout the country on May 17 and May 18. The call display on telephone / voice devices will be 1-613-739-6494. In some cases, you will receive a combination of email, voice and SMS / text messages. Please respond when you receive the notification. There’s no need for anyone to stay home or make arrangements to respond to the test. Everbridge will follow a sequence of delivery methods that are programmed into the system. They will initially try to reach a recipient via their blood.ca email, wait five minutes for a response and if there’s no response, the system will then send a message to the next contact method listed. It is vital that we know our system is working properly and that we have our employees' correct contact information in the event of an emergency. If your personal contact information is not up to date in EDA, the system will not be able to reach you. If you have not done so recently, log into EDA and edit your contact information in your personal profile, as required. Read more on changes to EDA and how to update your contact information here. 

Canadian Blood Services drivers highlighted in trucking industry magazine 

Across the country, every day, our professional drivers make lifesaving deliveries to hospitals, as well as play a vital role in transporting equipment and products to and from donor centres and mobile donor events. These dedicated drivers were recently recognized for their important work and unique role in Private Motor Carrier, a magazine published by the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada. Visit Connect to read more about our drivers and their exceptional commitment to making lifesaving connections for Canada’s Lifeline 

Women’s Empowerment Network to launch next week 

Earlier this year, all women and non-binary identifying employees across the organization were invited to join Canadian Blood Services’ newest employee resource group, the Women’s Empowerment Network  — and nearly 170 employees responded to the call for membership! The proposed goals of this group are to create a safe and supportive space for women and non-binary employees to connect with colleagues, build their networks, and share experiences, ideas and opportunities that foster the fulfillment of personal and professional goals. If you have already expressed interest in joining this network, you should have received an Outlook invitation to the kickoff meeting on Friday, May 13, from 1-3 p.m. ET. If you haven’t received your invitation — or have not yet requested to join the network but would like to do so — please reach out to DEI@blood.ca.    

Question of the day:

I see that Canadian Blood Services is now using TikTok to attract a new generation of donors. I love TikTok. How can I contribute?  

As we continually try to recruit new donors, employees and volunteers, Canadian Blood Services’ social media team has recently launched our TikTok account, and behind the scenes, our social media experts are already creating engaging content to appeal to a new demographic for the organization.  

Now, they need your help. Our digital communications team wants to include your voices, your ideas and your talent. They are looking for content creators to develop short videos for our national TikTok channel. This hugely popular platform can help us reach many more people, especially young people, and attract new donors of all kinds.  

If you are an enthusiastic, creative individual with a passion for creating engaging content, please sign up for the social media team’s TikTok Creator Workshop on Thursday, May 12th @ 2:30 p.m. ET to learn more about how you can become a creator on our TikTok channel. Fill out this form or contact jacob.lesage@blood.ca if you would like to attend. Don't forget to follow us on TikTok. 

About Your Digest

This digest highlights the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content to remind us that what we do matters. This information 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.