Gretchen Phinney holds back tears as she speaks about her husband Bruce, who died of blood cancer on Christmas Day last year.
“He was very quietly a very charitable person, he would help out students,” she tells Global News, sitting in her Halifax home, with a picture of Bruce beside her.
“People say this about a lot of people, but he really would give you the shirt off his back…He loved to cook, go out on his boat, hang out with friends, drink wine, things like that.”
Bruce was an avid entrepreneur, traveller and supporter of Acadia University, his alma mater.
This Christmas, in his name, Phinney and their daughter Evan are calling on Nova Scotians to donate blood, alleviating the annual pressure faced by Canadian Blood Services every holiday season.
READ MORE: Canadian Blood Services honours top volunteer in Atlantic Canada
“It’s a great Christmas present for somebody, and it’s great for all of our friends to be able to give us this Christmas present,” Phinney says.
The family has a pledge team of 69 people set up in Bruce’s name. When they first started, they hoped to bring in enough donations to replace they 80 transfusions Bruce received when he was sick.
As of Dec. 18, they had collected about 170 units of blood.
“I think he’d just smile and laugh, but he’d be pretty happy,” Phinney says of what her husband would think about the legacy campaign.
“Sometimes it’s quite motivational and inspiring because we think of Bruce, but sometimes there’s tears.”
According to Canadian Blood Services, 500 appointments are needed in Nova Scotia in the next two weeks to meet projected demand between Dec. 21 and Jan. 4, 2021.
Donations have been relatively steady in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, said Atlantic region donor relations director Peter MacDonald. But, attracting donors over the holidays poses a challenge.
“It’s not that hospital demand increases, it’s that hospital demand remains constant, however the opportunities to collect blood are reduced during Christmas,” he said, citing office closures on Dec. 25.
“We are reliant on a small percentage of the population that are active blood donors…and our attendance rate usually slips between Christmas and New Year’s for our appointments.”
READ MORE: Blood drive organized in honour of Nova Scotia mass shooting victims
Canadian Blood Services is still booking appointments, and MacDonald assures the procedure is COVID-safe, and still comes with replenishing snacks for donors.
Phinney said the campaign is keeping her and 26-year-old Evan busy, but they’ll continuing raising awareness every Christmas in honour of Bruce.