New Brunswickers are encouraged to donate blood this Christmas season in honour of Becca Schofield, a Riverview teen who started a social media campaign encouraging acts of kindness before she passed away from brain cancer in 2018.
“Donating blood is really one of the biggest acts of kindness you could do as far as she was concerned. She really believed in it,” her mom Anne Schofield told Global News on Tuesday.
This is the fifth blood donation drive the Schofields have organized in Becca’s honour since her passing.
Becca needed more than 50 blood transfusions while being treated for cancer between 2016 and 2018.
Canadian Blood Services Community Development Manager Brandy Peters said the holidays are a challenging time to find blood donors.
“When we share Becca’s story it encourages many people who have never donated, or maybe who haven’t donated in a while to come out,” she said.
Sixty-year-old universal donor Gisèle Lévèsque faced her lifelong fear of donating blood to support the cause on Tuesday.
“It’s my first time and I needed that kick, because I wanted to give for so long but never had that courage to,” she said.
She said now that she’s donated once, she plans on donating regularly.
Riverview firefighter Glenn Miller also rolled up his sleeves to honour the teen.
“I think it’s important that we keep Becca’s spirit alive. She was an amazing young woman,” he said while resting after having his blood drawn.
“I don’t know how I would have reacted as a person should someone give me a timeline on my life. For somebody so young to be so selfless was a pretty amazing thing for me to witness.”
Peters said there are still 170 open appointments to donate blood during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
“With colds, flus and various respiratory illnesses happening we’ve seen a huge uptick in our cancellations,” she said.
She said donations are at a 10-year low in part due to the pandemic.
“We really are asking new donors to continue giving blood,” she said.
The campaign in Becca’s memory continues until Dec 30.
Lévèsque has some advice for those who may be nervous about giving blood for the first time, like she was: “Just come because there’s so many people here that welcome you and next thing you know you’re done. There’s nothing to be scared of.”