Living Through Giving
- We need more people in Canada to experience the feeling you get when you give
- The votes are in! Your newsletter is now called Living Through Giving
- Double your donation today
- Financial donors empower students to Swab at School
- Scholarships up for grabs for supporting Canada’s Lifeline this summer
- Recipient update: Cleo
- Fundraising and donating plasma: a lifesaving bullseye
We need more people in Canada to experience the feeling you get when you give
In a rapidly changing world, people are searching for meaning and purpose. In Canada, hundreds of thousands of donors have found that purpose in helping patients. However, over the last five years—since the pandemic—we’ve seen major shifts in donor behaviour and participation in Canada’s Lifeline has declined. Today, only two per cent of all eligible people in Canada donate blood or plasma, and that is simply not enough to meet rising patient need.
That’s where you come in. In December, we asked you to help us reach 450 new donors a day. Because of donors like you, more than 30,000 appointments were attended by new blood and plasma donors this past winter. This is a meaningful example of how amazing things happen when you give. Your financial donation to Canadian Blood Services is one more way to support and connect with those who need your help right here in Canada. While things may look different in the world around us, what will not change is our commitment to the patients we serve and the fact that your continued support will help save and transform more lives.
Looking ahead to the next five years, we need more than one million people to join us by making blood or plasma donation part of their routine. When they do, we’ll get closer to ensuring that we can collect enough plasma in Canada to reduce our reliance on plasma-based medications produced in other countries, and we’ll grow our pool of ethnically diverse donors to help meet the complex needs of patients across Canada. It’s vital we achieve this goal to continue meeting the rising demand for blood and plasma in Canada and to invite more people to feel the life-changing impact of donating financially. We want more of you to experience what you get when you give.
The votes are in! Your newsletter is now called Living Through Giving
In February, we reached out to ask your thoughts on a new title for our quarterly newsletter to financial donors. You voted and the winning title is Living Through Giving.
There are infinite connections and benefits you unlock when you give to Canada’s Lifeline and this title is a perfect representation of that. Giving can fuel joy, engagement and gratitude throughout one’s life. We welcome your continued feedback on our newsletters, delivered regularly through email and once a year in print. Simply scan the QR code, or click here, to share your thoughts or to sign up for the electronic version.
Double your donation today
Gifts made before June 30, 2025 will be doubled up to $30,000 thanks to the generosity of Skelton Truck Lines.
Feel a tangible human connection when you double your impact on patients.
Financial donors empower students to Swab at School
In 2024, Canadian Blood Services launched a campaign to encourage 1,000 post-secondary students to join the stem cell registry. When more than 3,000 students registered to become stem cell donors at the end of the two-week campaign, we realized we could inspire even more students in 2025. And thanks to support from generous financial donors, we did just that.
In its sophomore year, the Swab at School campaign ran for two weeks in February with the goal of adding as many new potential donors to the stem cell registry as possible — and 3,499 students answered the call.
“Registering nearly 3,500 potential donors means that more patients who are waiting now have a better chance at finding their match.” – Jennifer, stem cell recipient and Swab at School student volunteer at Memorial University, N.L.
Why focus a campaign on post-secondary students? People aged 17 to 35 make the best lifesaving stem cell donors, as transplantation of stem cells from younger donors typically lead to better patient outcomes. Canadian colleges and universities typically have a diverse student population and patients are more likely to find a matching donor among those who share their ethnic ancestry. Connecting with students to help save lives was a no-brainer!
Information booths and swabbing stations that enabled on-the-spot registrations were set up at post-secondary institutions across the country, powered by student volunteers.
The campaign was made possible by financial donations from OtherHalf Chinese Stem Cell Initiative, which was also the event sponsor, as well as RBC Foundation. We thank these organizations for their generous support of this valuable initiative.
“Thanks to the contributions of our event sponsor and financial donors, this national event was an even greater success this year,” says Jennifer Gretzan, associate director of planning and integration. “With this support, along with the efforts of our recruitment teams and student volunteers, I was confident we could recruit even more people, and we did.”
Scholarships up for grabs for supporting Canada’s Lifeline this summer
Students entering or continuing post-secondary studies this September should consider joining the Assignment Saving Lives program for a chance to win up to $9,000 in scholarship prizes, made possible by generous financial donors like you!
This national program invites students to recruit first-time blood and plasma donors as well as new potential stem cell donors in the summer months. Top scholarship prizes are awarded to those who recruit the most new supporters. There are also awards given out by random draw. Every program participant has the potential to get support for their education while being guaranteed to transform lives in the process. Learn more at blood.ca/assignmentsavinglives.
Your continued financial investment keeps programs like Assignment Saving Lives available to students in Canada.
“My mom needed blood transfusions in the past, and her experience inspired me to participate” – 2024 scholarship recipient, Liliana
Recipient update: Cleo
In 2023, we introduced our community to Cleo, who received a lifesaving blood transfusion just moments after her birth. Now approaching her fourth birthday, if you ask Cleo what she’s most excited for this summer, she’s likely to say camping and eating ice cream on the beach. According to her mom, Anita, Cleo also loves singing her ABCs and drawing her family as stick figures with her crayons.
The way donors changed Cleo’s life on day one inspired many people to donate when we shared her story. Financial donors also fuel recruitment of biological donors who continue to save and transform lives like Cleo’s!
Fundraising and donating plasma: a lifesaving bullseye
It’s 2021, and Amy Overes is gearing up to host her first axe throwing tournament in Lethbridge, Alta. — one of four axe throwing events taking place the same day around the world. All inspired by the online reality show Axegirls.tv and driven by the desire to uplift women in the sport of axe throwing, the global tournament also served as a platform to fundraise for people in need. For Amy’s group in Lethbridge, this effort has always been centered around helping patients.
“The axe community in general is unique in that it is very supportive of raising money for those who need the extra help in whatever way is needed,” shares Amy. “We just want to bring some good to this world in our own small way and if we can help save even one life, then everything we do is beyond worth it.”
Since that first event in 2021, Burn Battle has become an annual tournament that continues to grow in Lethbridge. Not only has participation grown from 37 to 60 axe throwers, but the event committee has also grown from Amy, her husband Mark, and two close friends to a committee of 10 people. Together, they rally support from local businesses, plan auctions, organize raffles and more. All their hard work and support from generous participants resulted in more than $14,000 donated to Canadian Blood Services after their most recent tournament!
The funds raised will be invested into programs that help recruit more biological donors to Canada’s Lifeline. By setting up a team through our Partners for Life program, many Burn Battle participants are doubling down on this point by becoming plasma donors themselves. Over 100 units of plasma were donated by this group at our Lethbridge donor centre after their 2024 event — something they hope to double during this year’s tournament.
Axe throwing is an empowering sport. Blending that with helping others, especially those battling cancer, is how this group has gotten through both the good and challenging times. Even the choice to support Canada’s Lifeline was inspired by a fellow axe thrower in Lethbridge who sadly passed away; she was also a dedicated Canadian Blood Services employee.
“For too many of us, we have felt and seen firsthand what battles are being fought by our loved ones, friends or maybe even ourselves and we know what a vital role Canadian Blood Services plays in helping someone in whatever their unique needs are.”
Community fundraisers are vital links in Canada’s Lifeline. A huge thanks to Amy, Mark and all volunteers and sponsors who made this event so successful. We can’t wait to see what you accomplish at your 5th annual fundraiser on September 21, 2025. To learn more about starting your own fundraiser, visit give.blood.ca/fundraise.
Unique ways to donate
Donate a vehicle
Donate your car, truck, boat, RV or motorcycle to Canadian Blood Services and all proceeds will help support patients. Learn more at give.blood.ca/donate-a-car.
In Ontario? Canadian Blood Services-branded licence plates are now available at Service Ontario with a portion of fees redirected to our organization as a donation.
Explore employer-matched gifts
Find out if your employer will match your volunteer work, blood or plasma donations or financial contributions with a corporate donation. Visit give.blood.ca/EmployerMatch.
Have you heard? Canadian Blood Services is now a member of HealthPartners, offering another way to support patients in your workplace.
Plan your legacy
Secure your charitable legacy by leaving a gift to Canadian Blood Services in your Will. Learn more at give.blood.ca/Legacy.
May is also leave a legacy month! A gift in your Will to registered charities like Canadian Blood Services can make an incredible impact.
Learn more about your giving options here.
Thank you for supporting Canada’s Lifeline.
National Development Team
1800 Alta Vista Drive
Ottawa ON K1G 4J5
Charitable Registration No. 870 157 641 RR0001
To make a financial donation:
give.blood.ca/donate
613 739 2339 or give@blood.ca