Your Digest

“Show Up” donor and registrant recruitment campaign launches today

In times of need, we show up. These words form the foundation of our new multi-product donor and registrant recruitment campaign that is launching today across the country. You will soon start to see and hear television and radio spots, digital and social media content and more. Our messaging highlights and celebrates the different ways people across Canada “show up” for each other. We’re launching the Show Up campaign this week because patients across Canada need donors now, more than ever. For the past two years, the number of donors across all our product lines has been steadily declining. We hope this campaign will inspire people across Canada to donate blood, platelets or plasma, or register to become a stem cell or organ and tissue donor. Watch and share the 30-second and 15-second national TV spots with your teams and consider sharing via your personal social media channels. Read more about this campaign, and how you can help, on Connect.

Employee Appreciation Week starts on Monday

Next week, we will be celebrating Employee Appreciation Week (Feb. 28 – March 4) by inviting employees across the organization to participate in virtual events and activities and by launching new resources and initiatives to enhance your employee experience. Leading up to Employee Appreciation Day on March 4, we will also be sharing some of the many shout-outs you’ve been submitting to recognize your inspiring teams and colleagues, so keep them coming. You can thank a colleague or a team by filling out this short form or by sending an email to communications@blood.ca with the subject line, “SHOUT-OUT.” You can also register and participate in one of our virtual game nights on Feb. 28 or March 2 or sign up for the *new* watercolour wellness workshop on March 3. Stay tuned for more details early next week.

Selfless parents and a hockey hero inspired Zack Stringer to join Canada’s Lifeline

Zack Stringer is a forward with the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats and a Hockey Gives Blood Player Ambassador. To help celebrate Black History Month, we asked Zack to share his journey to becoming a hockey player and his decision to register to donate organs and tissues. Zack says he’s been inspired by selfless acts all around him, from his own parents’ decision to adopt him from a Haitian orphanage as a 17-month-old, to the outpouring of support for organ donation that followed the 2018 Humboldt bus crash. Read Zack’s story as he reflects on what it means to be Black, the altruism of his adoptive parents and how he’s using his platform to urge Canadians — particularly people from the Black community — to also be selfless by joining Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry.

Blood donors are essential to this ultramarathon runner’s lymphoma battle

Jonathan Riley, an active outdoorsman and ultramarathon runner, spent the last days of December 2020 hiking solo across Nova Scotia — just for fun. A few short months later, doctors discovered Jonathan had non-Hodgkin lymphoma. For treatment, Jonathan has had to travel to a hospital in Halifax, a three-hour drive from his home in Digby, and blood transfusions have played a big role. This year, right before the holidays, Jonathan received a blood transfusion that provided him with a precious boost of energy to enjoy Christmas with his granddaughters. Read more of Jonathan’s story on blood.ca/stories.

Question of the day: I’ve been hearing the term ‘Indigenization’ lately. What does this mean and how does it affect our organization and what we do?

In the context of Canadian Blood Services, Indigenization refers to a process that is Indigenous-led and opens new spaces within the organization (as well as new partnerships with Indigenous peoples, communities and organizations) for the expression of Indigenous knowledge systems, values, decision-making protocols, worldviews and voices. A process of Indigenization decentres (or pushes back) colonial practices and structures to establish new ethical and culturally safe spaces that reflect a diversity of Indigenous knowledge and practices.

Canadian Blood Services is currently taking meaningful steps as an organization to address the historical and ongoing inequities that exist for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples across the country. We seek to address existing barriers and improve Indigenous representation within our donor and registrant base, in order to readily meet rare blood, stem cell and other specific patient needs.

We have also established an employee resource group for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), an inclusive forum where employees who share a common identity can build a community and sense of belonging at work.

To ensure our work with Indigenous communities is meaningful and ongoing, we are creating an informed and comprehensive Reconciliation action plan (RAP) to support positive and reciprocal relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Creating our RAP is an inclusive process and will guide our vision for the next several years, focusing on turning our commitments to Reconciliation into actions.  A draft version of the RAP is currently under review with key stakeholders and contributors, and the final plan will be shared publicly in the coming months.

To learn more about our diversity, equity and inclusion commitments, visit blood.ca/DEI.

 

 

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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