Stettler and area residents rolled up their sleeves and donated an hour of their time and about a pint of blood to help save lives.
The monthly blood donor clinic rolled into town on Monday, Sept. 19 and set up at the Stettler Community Hall. Staffers prepared themselves for a busy five-hour clinic — and weren't disappointed.
"It's a very busy clinic," supervisor Marta Boulton said. "Our goal is 120 units of blood, and I do believe we're going to make it."
Making an appointment ahead of time helps Canadian Blood Services in knowing the number of people who will attend, but walk-ins are welcome and encouraged, Boulton said. Questions about medications, illnesses, travel history and sexual history are designed to eliminate people who cannot donate blood. Every bit of blood is tested before being passed on to people who need it, so if someone with an illness got through screening, the subsequent tests would eliminate them.
After brief test to ensure people have a high enough hemoglobin level — that's red blood — and a screening survey to verify whether or not someone can donate blood, it's off to a chair where a phlebotomist will set up a donor to donate blood. It takes anywhere from eight to 15 minutes for a person to donate the 480ml of blood.
"It's an easy process," Stettler's Jeannette LaRose said. She's been donating blood for about two decades and started because her husband did. "It doesn't really hurt or bother me."
A few chairs down, Marie Brown watched as the phlebotomist removed the needle from her arm, pressing a gauze pad against the small hole left behind.
"If you can (donate blood), it's a great thing," she said. "A friend got me started, but she can't donate now because she has cancer. So now I make sure I donate in her place."
After the blood donation is done, donors sit in the recovery area, enjoy a drink and a treat which is not just a reward, but also designed to help replenish what they've just given.
Max McMillan was one of the many donors who came in to town to donate, driving in from beyond Botha. The 60-year-old has been donating blood since he turned 18, and for him, there was never any question he'd do it.
"When I was about 15, I had to get blood," McMillan explained. "It's one of the small things I can do to give back. It saves lives."