On November 19, 2014, I donated my 70th pint of blood.
It was a milestone to celebrate after 25 years of rolling up my sleeve and giving the gift of life.
Heck, I even Instagrammed it and sent out it out social media. Likes, comments and retweets ensued.
I followed that up with pint number 71 in January.
Due to a variety of circumstances that prevented me from giving blood between now and next month, I made my next appointment for June 24.
Turns out, that cold January day was the last time I'll walk through the doors of the Prince George clinic, thanks to the decision by Canadian Blood Services last Thursday to permanently close the local location on May 27.
I was stunned and angry. And I can only assume 2,999 other active and dedicated donors from Prince George and surrounding area were also wondering why and how did this happen?
Even if some have donated more than 100 times and others less than that, it's still a slap in the face by the national organization.
Canadian Blood Services spokesman David Patterson told the Citizen last week it costs about $1,000 each clinic day to fly the blood south to Vancouver, whereas blood from other sites is driven south in a vehicle that can combine several clinic collections.
Patterson said the decision was part of a national plan to cut costs and address a dropping demand for blood in western countries over the last few years. The move would have no impact on supply of blood to local hospitals.
Patterson said Prince George's annual operating budget is about $1 million.
Pulling the plug on the clinic means 13 part-time staff, four casual staff and about 50 volunteers will now lose their jobs.
Prior to closing, Prince George was the only clinic north of Kelowna and, according to a Vancouver Sun story in 2014, both of those communities topped B.C. in donations.
So the decision by CBS to shutter the Prince George clinic doesn't make any sense. It appears it has alienated an entire region of active and potential donors.
Every time Canadian Blood Services put out the call that its inventory was getting low, the 3,000 donors in the region answered the call, faithfully rolling up their sleeves and saving lives in the process.
CBS said the need for blood can be filled by the remaining 36 permanent and 909 mobile clinics across the country. Sixteen mobile clinics arew also being slashed and Patterson said there were no plans to offer a mobile clinic in Prince George.
Turns out they really don't need us after all.
I've been a faithful donor at the Prince George clinic since 2006 when I moved to Quesnel from the Lower Mainland to take on the editor's role at the Quesnel Observer newspaper. About four times a year, I'd make the hour's drive north just to drop a pint of AB Rh-positive.
I relocated to P.G. in 2009 and it was even more convenient.
My colleagues and I in CNC's communications department would compete against each other on how long it would take to fill the bag from the time the needle went into our arm to when it was withdrawn. We'd know what each other's hemoglobin levels were. It was fun and easy.
And we felt great afterwards because we were helping others.
And in my nine years of donating regularly in Prince George, I've gotten to know the staff, who are dedicated, wonderful and amazing people.
There aren't enough adjectives to describe them.
To many longtime donors, the staff has become friends, catching up with each other every 56 days.
They'll be missed.
So now what? Where do dedicated and selfless northern B.C. donors go now? When I called Thursday as a donor, not a reporter, to find out where the closest clinic to Prince George was, I was told Nanaimo. That's just a little too far.
The Kelowna clinic is open three days per week and every other
Saturday.
Kamloops has a mobile clinic and is open three days per month.
So that's it Prince George, we either drive to Kamloops or Kelowna, destinations we like to vacation at, or we stop donating all together.
I wound up re-booking in Edmonton when I visit my family in September.
Even though I'm a former donor at that location, it's doubtful I'll stop by every time I visit due to time constraints.
Most likely, the days of me giving the gift of life, something I've done since 1989 when I was a university student, are over.
More than likely, that's the feeling among other Prince George donors and it's a shame.
