53 that is how many blood donations I have done now. When I started going regularly I hadn’t really thought about why. I remember as a child seeing my dad go and give blood. That’s one reason I went. Now I go for another reason. There are so many charities out there these days asking for money. I don’t want to be giving lots of my money away to a select group of society that one charity helps out.

Instead I give blood.

This is something that helps anyone regardless of their race, wealth, belief system, or lot in life. I’m proud that I can help people on this way, and I do what I can to encourage others to go. I hope I don’t come off as pushy to others, but the stats on the number of eligible Canadians that do donate is embarrassingly low. Only 3% of eligible Canadians actually donate. I know we can do better.

My latest donation was a simple affair. I’ve been through the process enough times that it doesn’t faze me anymore. Strangely though, my hands were chilly, and for the first time in a long time, it actually took longer than five minutes to fill the bag. Other than that, no problems. I only had a two sets of cookies too, since I was meeting Sox and the kids for dinner afterward.