Members of B.C.’s Sikh community are calling on people to donate blood Saturday as part of its 17th annual Sikh Nation blood drive.
“We are giving blood to save lives and also to send a message worldwide that killing won’t solve anything. Love, peace and saving lives is more important,” blood drive volunteer Deep Jhaj said. “So that’s what our religion taught us and that’s what we’re saving.”
The blood drive was founded in the Lower Mainland in 1999 to commemorate the victims of anti-Sikh pogroms in New Delhi and other parts of India after the November 1984 assassination of Indian prime minister Indira Ghandi by her Sikh bodyguards. Thousands of Sikhs were killed.
Since then the campaign has expanded across the country and around the world, saving more than 113,000 people, Jhaj said.
Last year, participants donated nearly 2,100 units of blood and welcomed 350 new donors. They hope even more people will roll up their sleeves to make a donation this year.
Volunteer-run clinics for interested donors are running on Saturday, Nov. 12, in Surrey until 5:30 p.m. and Abbotsford until 5:00 p.m.
More details are available on the Blood Donation by Sikh Nation website.
The Canadian Blood Services requires 17,000 units of blood to meet the needs of patients each week, but only one of every 60 Canadians donate.