Giving the gift of life for Christmas

More than 50 North Shore City Council staff and councillors will give the ultimate Christmas gift next Monday.

The blood each one of them donates has the potential to save three lives.

Organiser Councillor Peter White hopes the staff blood donation day will become a regular occurrence.

“There are lots of reasons people don’t give blood, but it’s often because they’re too busy and they think it’s inconvenient,” he says.

“Our staff are really keen and we’re making it easy for them to help save lives.”

Councillor White, who had previously been a regular donor, decided to resume donating after hearing earlier this year about the extremely low donation rates in North Shore City.

“This is an opportunity for the council to show leadership and set an example to the community,” he says.

North Shore City Council human resources manager, Glenn Harris, says staff will be given time off on the day, although donating blood does not take long.

“The actual donation only takes about 10 minutes, but from registration to resting time, it’s about an hour,” he says.

“It is time very well spent, especially coming up to the Christmas period.”

NZ Blood is the only supplier to hospitals in New Zealand, and they need about 3200 donations a week to keep up with demand.

And while about 80 per cent of the population will need some kind of blood product in their lifetime, only four per cent of people roll up their sleeves and donate.

If you would like to donate blood, please contact North Shore Donor Services, or visit 441 Lake Rd, Takapuna.

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