Prince George has set a goal to recruit as many new blood donors as possible in the next six weeks.
Canadian Blood Services' 14th annual Interior Drive for Life Challenge: the Quest for New Blood has an added concentration of attracting first-time donors.
The annual goal is to register 595 new blood donors, and at least 75 new donors during the six week challenge. This year, Prince George is having a friendly competition with Kelowna to see which city signs up the most new donors.
"Last year, it was Prince George against Kelowna to see which city could donate the most units of blood and that's still the main goal of the challenge this year," said Tamara Sweet, partnership specialist for Canadian Blood Service.
"When it comes to the [competition], it's the one time we are totally knuckle-to-knuckle with each other." Prince George was victorious last year and came in at 106 per cent of their target and they are hoping to win again this year.
"In addition to the most units, we are also looking for the most new donors. At Canadian Blood Services, we are always trying to increase our donor base and make it so that it's sustainable for the years to come and one way to do that is encouraging new donors to come in and donate."
To help launch the campaign is Scott Smith, a local donor and father of six year-old daughter Brenn Smith, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment for leukemia, at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver. As part of her treatment, Brenn receives regular blood transfusions.
Smith brought his friend, Nolan Hughes with him to donate for the first time as part of the challenge.
"A lot of people don't donate because they haven't been asked... Smith wanted to prove that when you ask people to come in and donate, they do," said Sweet.
The donor pool in Canada is beginning to shrink because the average age of most donors are, "becoming reliant on the blood system themselves but they are also aging out of our system and getting sick more often and aren't eligible to donate because their bodies just can't handle it anymore," she said.
In September another campaign will start aimed at high school students, to educate them about the importance of donating blood.
The whole donation process takes an hour, including a medical and sexual history questionnaire.
On average, a person will give a half litre of blood every time they donate.
Across B.C., Canadian Blood Services must recruit 11,000 new donors to help keep the blood system strong and sustainable.
