L-R: Shamus Neeson, Canadian Blood Services, Mayor Mike Yargeau, Josephine Michaluk, and Councillor Teresa Cunningham. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

well done central alberta!

‘Penhold Cares’ blood donor challenge wraps up

Mar 16, 2024 | 11:27 AM

Results are in from the Penhold Cares Central Alberta Blood Drive Challenge.

The initiative ran through February and in honour of Josephine Michaluk, a Penhold resident who holds the Guinness World Record for Most Whole Blood Donations by a female.

The challenge pitted different parts of the Red Deer region against one another to try and raise blood donations.

“For our community of 3,600 people to have more donors than either of the regions south of us shows how much Penhold does care,” says Penhold Mayor Mike Yargeau. “Josephine’s accomplishment inspired many of our residents, including myself, to give blood last month. We had more donors than some zones with towns more than twice our population and all the surrounding areas to help boost their numbers.”

Here are the final tallies:

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1. Red Deer: 148
2. Zone 2 (East of QEII, North of HWY 42): 99
3. Zone 1 (West of QEII, North of HWY 42): 83
4. Penhold: 51
5. Zone 4 (East of QEII, South of Hwy 42): 35
6. Zone 3 (West of QEII, South of HWY 592): 32

“It’s a great start to a campaign involving the surrounding municipalities,” says Shamus Neeson, Canadian Blood Services Community Development Manager – Red Deer.

“The results from the inaugural launch show the amount of support of the blood system that currently exists within our community, and the empathy for the patients that require blood on a day-to-day basis. I’m excited to see how much this campaign grows in support and reach in the next number of years.”

A total of 1055 units of blood were collected at the Red Deer Donor Centre in February, which is 86 per cent of what was needed to keep up with hospital demand.

READ MORE

• Town of Penhold local hero recognized worldwide
• Penhold woman officially earns Guinness World Record for most blood donations

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