Daily COVID-19 digest

Save the date — live Q&A with our CEO: Please join us on Tuesday, May 12 at 11 a.m. ET for the next live Q&A with our CEO. Thank you to all who participated in our last event — we received over 50 questions during the live session and are doing our best to ensure that those that could not be answered by Graham are captured in our employee Q&A. Thanks to your positive feedback about the engagement, and video/audio quality we have decided to continue using Microsoft Teams Live to host these events. An Outlook invite will be sent to you in the coming days with the details on how to participate.

Update on transitioning back to the “office”:

The health and safety of our employees and their families is a priority. As the pandemic evolves, our leadership team meets regularly to discuss matters that affect our teams — including when it is safe for staff who are currently working remotely to return to the office.

With many staff juggling work and family commitments in an uncertain environment, it is natural that some of our teams may be feeling anxious to return to life as normal. However, for everyone’s safety — including those who are currently performing essential tasks within Canadian Blood Services facilities — we ask that staff who can do so continue to work remotely until further notice.

As provinces start the transition process of re-opening, our leadership team will continue to discuss when the appropriate time will be to ask employees to return to the office, as well as the details around how it can be implemented safely. We hope to provide you with an update in the coming weeks regarding our plan for returning to the office.

If you have further questions around how this measure affects you, we encourage you to check out the FAQ’s on this topic in the employee portal and to speak with your manager before entering a Canadian Blood Services facility.

Volunteers are a vital part of the donation experience: Since the outbreak of the global pandemic, we have implemented several enhanced wellness measures and screening protocols to help protect everyone within our donor centre environment, including our dedicated volunteers. In our most recent enhanced wellness initiative, we have made face masks a mandatory requirement for everyone while in our centres. Rest and relaxation in our hospitality areas will continue to be part of the post-donation process but we’re now asking donors to simply take only the refreshments they need and wait until they are outside our centres to consume them. Volunteers will be a key component in ensuring this message gets delivered to every donor. And we continue to rely on volunteers to monitor donors for their overall experience and to ensure that they have picked up a snack and drink to enjoy after they have left our centres.

Wellness Wednesday — creating your family’s gratitude jar: Now more than ever, it’s important to help children navigate difficult obstacles and adversities, build resilience and spend time acknowledging all those things we do have and can control. That’s why, in honour of Mental Health Week, Katie O’Brien, senior consultant, wellness, diversity & inclusion, is proposing a fun activity you can do with your kids (or your partner, roommate, parent or anyone else you are currently cooped up with at home) that practises gratitude as a powerful way to cope with anxiety and feel close to others. Katie and her son, Henry, make a “gratitude jar” together, to reflect on everything and everyone they’re grateful for during the COVID-19 pandemic — from food in their fridge, to their friends and family, and of course, Henry’s precious LEGOs.  Watch this week’s video and get inspired to make your own gratitude or “self-care” jar.

The 2020 Dayna Brons Honorary Award: This year’s award ceremony looked a little different. Using the end of a hockey stick (in keeping with physical distancing!) Canadian Blood Services and Hockey Gives Blood presented the 2020 Dayna Brons Honorary Award to Matt Welsh of the Charlottetown Islanders. Learn more about Matt’s contributions to Canadas Lifeline by checking out the Facebook Live of the event.

About the daily digest  

This daily 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.  Things are moving quickly, so you can expect to hear from us daily. No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.    

Click here to read past editions of the daily digest.    

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