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Toronto – A new statistic has entered the books for the Toronto Argonauts
Football Club for the 2007 season – 555 units of blood collected and
1,665 lives saved!
Bragging rights are in and the Toronto Argonauts represent Canadian Blood Services’ largest ‘Partners for Life’ organization in central Ontario by successfully fulfilling their pledge to donate at least 500 units of blood by the end of the football year.
Canadian Blood Services is pleased to announce that when the final score was in, the Argos and their supporters were declared champions, donating 555 units of blood, the largest number of donations by any Partners for Life organization in Central Ontario.
Back in March 2007 at Canadian Blood Services’ ‘Partners for Life’
breakfast, in front of many of the Greater Toronto Region’s corporate
and community leaders, former Toronto Argonauts President and CEO Keith
Pelley pledged the Argos would commit to saving 1,500 lives by players,
coaches, staff, cheerleaders and fans donating blood by Grey Cup Week
2007.
With that pledge, the most important drive in club history began. The Argos knew they were not just fighting for yardage or glory, or even the Grey Cup; they were fighting for patient lives. Every donation could save up to three lives, and they wanted to reach their goal.
“I
am very pleased our organization, and most of all our fans, went into
‘overtime’ to help local patients by donating 550 units of blood during
the past CFL season. Being there for the
community is what being an Argo is all about and I look forward to
increasing the target this year so the Argo family can continue to save
lives through blood donation,” says Toronto Argonauts Head Coach Rich Stubler.
Bill
Coleman, Regional Donor Services Manager with Canadian Blood Services
notes, “Players, staff, and fans were all enthusiastic supporters of
the education events and the Blood Blitz blood donor clinic held at
Roger’s Centre this season. The Argos are a tremendous resource for patients across Canada, no matter which team you cheer for,” he added with a smile.
Partners for Life organizations in Central Ontario more than doubled their blood donation target for 2007, saving over 35,000 Lives! The Partner for Life program allows organizations and companies to donate blood as a group, working towards a yearly target.
This year, the top three organizations, Toronto Argonauts Football Club, Royal Bank of Canada and Manulife Financial donated an average of 500 units of blood each, therefore saving up to 4500 lives. The target for the 2008 Partners for Life campaign is to save 45,000 lives.
To learn more about Partners for Life, or to make an appointment to donate blood, call 1-888-2-DONATE or visit blood.ca.
About Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services is a national not-for-profit charitable
organization that manages the blood supply in all Canadian provinces
and territories (except Québec) and oversees OneMatch Stem Cell and
Marrow Network. A dedicated team of 4,800 staff and 17,000 volunteers
enable Canadian Blood Services to operate 40 permanent collection sites
and more than 20,000 donor clinics annually. While
Canadian Blood Services is a non-governmental organization, it receives
operational funding from the Provincial and Territorial Ministers of
Health, and is regulated by Health Canada.