The Ford family are living proof that your financial donations make all the difference. When Manny Ford decided to donate her daughter's cord blood to Canadian Blood Services' public cord blood bank, she never imagined that her second child, Tristan, would need a stem cell transplant from another parent's cord blood donation. Before his stem cell transplant in 2021, Tristan also received several lifesaving blood transfusions.
The Ford family's journey is just one example of how financial gifts benefit patients. From helping to establish Canada's public cord blood bank, where Manny's own cord blood donation is banked, to recruiting more blood and cord blood donors like those that Tristan relied upon, the gifts of financial donors have a transformational impact on families every year.
Your financial gifts will help us continue to save and transform lives by strengthening our national programs for blood, plasma, stem cells, organs and tissues, as well as world-class research and innovation. When you fundraise with us, you play a vital role in helping us connect patients with the life essentials they need, where and when they need them.
Your financial donations transform and save lives in six ways
Every donation helps patients in need by supporting and strengthening national programs and initiatives in the areas of blood, stem cells, plasma, organs and tissues and research and innovation.
Area of greatest need
Each year, our executive team sets priorities for how we will deliver on our vision to help every patient, match every need and serve every Canadian. As the year unfolds, unexpected challenges crop up, and we find that some areas of our business and initiatives need extra support.
Your financial donation to the area of greatest need will support us with invaluable flexibility. Your gift will support priority projects and areas of our work in greatest need of a boost. In the past, these gifts have been instrumental in our response to pandemic challenges as well as funding groundbreaking research pilots that had immediate patient impact.
Blood
For cancer patients, transplant recipients, accident victims and those undergoing major surgeries and other medical procedures, timely blood transfusions can mean the difference between life and death.
Your financial donation to the area of blood help strengthen donor recruitment programs, education, training, and innovative improvements to the national blood supply system so that the incredible gifts of blood donors are used to save as many lives as possible.
Stem Cells
Stem cell transplants can treat over 80 diseases and disorders, including blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, immune disorders and diseases of the bone marrow, such as thalassemia or sickle cell disease. On any given day, more than 800 patients across Canada are waiting for a stem cell transplant — however, only half currently end up finding a match.
Your financial donation to the area of stem cells will help make more matches, faster, by boosting recruitment of new, ethnically diverse, volunteer donors to Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry and Cord Blood Bank. They also fuel national investments in awareness, research, and innovation for future patients who will count on lifesaving stem cells.
Plasma
Donated plasma touches the lives of thousands of patients who require lifesaving therapies and treatments made from plasma protein and related products. Across Canada, as the number of illnesses that can be treated with plasma continues to rise, your support will help transform the lives of patients across the country with immune disorders and rare and genetic conditions.
Your financial donation to the area of plasma will help recruit more volunteer plasma donors to keep up with growing patient need. Your giving also supports research education and innovation aimed at optimizing the use of these therapies and ensuring their sustainability.
Organs and Tissues
A single organ donor can save up to eight lives — and a single tissue donation can improve the lives of up to 75 patients. Canadian Blood Services works with the Organ and Tissue Donation & Transplantation community to help increase access to transplants, improve patient outcomes and save more lives.
Your financial donation to the area of organs and tissues will help strengthen our national, inter-provincial organ sharing program and increase transplant access for patients across the country. Your giving also helps support public education, engagement and awareness initiatives aimed at encouraging more Canadians to register as organ donors.
Research and Innovation
As our national healthcare system continues to respond to growing demands and changing patient needs, Canadian Blood Services' world-class research team is undertaking leading-edge work that turns groundbreaking discoveries today into lifesaving health system improvements tomorrow.
Your financial donation to the area of research and innovation will support important and ongoing work, training, education and excellence in transplantation and transfusion medicine. Our research contributes to improving patient outcomes by seeking to widen the eligible pool of donors in Canada, improve collection, testing and storage methods of donated blood and blood products.