I can't anymore.

my life goal was 100 but melanoma put an end to that.

Men are so full of iron; we need this as much as they need us.

For those who never have donated, and are thinking about it, I can tell you there is nothing to fear.

They have it down pat now. Smooth as can be, super friendly and professional. 10 minutes of admin stuff, up onto the couch, a wee jag maybe (I never feel much), and in about 10 your done and eating your snack.

Just the thought of the good it will do and the help it provides will make your day.

I used to donate when the Red Cross clinics came to small towns but since that was shut down I have had to donate in the Blood Services clinic in Edmonton which is a three hour drive away. I usually have tried to drop in when I found myself with spare couple of hours during the usual day of running around. (We usually only go to Edmonton with a  full agenda.)

I was successful a couple of times but the last time I found I had time to spare and could do it, they wouldn't let me because I didn't have an appointment. (We don't do walk ins. Kinda snotty too.) Since they have made this so onerous for non-city people, so much for that.

The sad part about all of this is the Blood service is always in a struggle to cover the needs.

I really wish there was an easy solution to this.

I had lapsed for some years and the thing that brought me back was my daughter. She wanted to start. Well why not, what a great little thing to do together!

100% good advice Bill.

My local has only just started the practice of giving you sugar (Juice) and salt (chips, cookies etc.) before the donation.

I guess too many people were feeing woozy after.

After the Red Cross fiasco, it really got tightened down. There are some hoops to jump through to be sure, I get that.

But You are right Ken, they need to make it easier to access for everyone, open up the rural areas (where there are many good people). Maybe they'll find a way.

The fact is that there are local centers everywhere in the GTA down here, and only a small percentage of the millions here go to the trouble to donate.

You hit 75 Randy?

4SPEED427 wrote:

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while donating #13 I fainted so that kind of put the end to my donating.

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 The time this happened I was on my way home from work, hungry for supper but thought I'd stop in quick and get it done before I went home to eat. Bad mistake.