National Honouring Our Lifeblood

The national Honouring our Lifeblood event celebrates the people and organizations whose support sustains our country’s blood system, stem cell network and transplant system. This year the back drop for the event was the beautiful Museum of History in Hull, Quebec(1).

The event was emceed by retired Grey Cup quarterback Henry Burris(4) who helped us celebrate the partners that play such a huge role in saving lives. The partners honoured at the event were: University of British Columbia, The Jim Pattison Broadcast group, Sick Kids Hospital, and Team Marlie(3). Our national partner award was presented to the Department of National Defence(2).

The Department of National Defence became the first national organization in 2006 to partner with Canadian Blood Services.  Since that time, more than 30,000 units of blood have been donated through their partnership. How do they do this?  Canadian Forces Health Services promotes blood and stem cell donation, hosting blood drives and swabbing events. They also support time off for employees who want to donate. This commitment exemplifies the longstanding relationship between Canada's military and the blood system, which began with the early days of blood transfusion during WWI and grew as Canadians donated blood to help wounded troops during WWII.