Wednesday, April 2, 2014

A to Z Blog Challenge -- B is for Blood Donor



Welcome to Day 2 of this year's A to Z Blog Challenge.

As a vampire author, I've spent a great deal of time thinking about blood.


For my vampire characters, blood takes on a whole new significance. Certainly, all living creatures need blood in order to operate our biomachines. Yet unless we've sprung a leak, blood doesn't get our attention in quite the same way as the other two driving forces -- hunger for food, and our sexual drive.

Of course, for a vampire, blood takes the place of both food and sex, as blood is their one and only form of sustenance, while it's the vampire's bite that turns a person into a new vampire. I found that as I wrote from the vampire's perspective, my admiration for blood as the essence of life led to my becoming a blood donor.   


B is for Blood Donor





My day job participates in a program called Partners For Life through Canadian Blood Services.

As a donor in this program, I was delighted to represent my corporation at a luncheon this past February, along with Jim, one of my co-workers (in fact, the person who signed our office up for Partners For Life.)

A woman addressed the crowd, telling us about the the 86 units of blood she had received when she'd faced a significant health crisis.

It was very moving to hear her story. I was so impressed with her willingness to share such a very distressing time in her life. She even stood with each team as we received our certificate for participating in the Partners For Life Program.



But what stayed with me was Cindy's personal challenge to sign up 86 new donors, inspired by the 86 units of blood she'd received when her life depended on them.

As of today, with just 4 new donors Cindy will have reached her goal.

For the A to Z Blog Challenge, I'd like to ask all vampire fans out there to consider donating blood in honor of your favorite vampire character.

I became a donor because of my 6th century Welsh warrior-turned-vampire, Peredur.

Who will inspire you?

5 comments:

S. L. Hennessy said...

I'm a vampire fan AND a blood donor! Yay for getting others to do the same.

Arlee Bird said...

You're doing a good service by giving blood. I haven't given blood in a very long time, but I make regular visits to get my blood tested.

Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog

Anonymous said...

I used to give blood... until the standards in the US changed. I spent some time in England at school in my late teens. The school was located on farm land. Apparently, this made me a potential carrier of Mad Cow Disease. I always get a chuckle about that. Maybe the standards have changed again. I'll have to check into it. Thanks for giving away your blood for those in need!

Heidi Hamburg said...

I celebrated turning eighteen by giving blood. It was the one newly legal thing I could do.

Naquillity said...

i think it's great what you're doing. much luck to you on your venture. may your donated blood save a life or more. so glad Cindy reached her goal of 86 donors. may she continue to live life to its fullest... have a great day~