#GiveLife Student Challenge Toolkit

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1 YOU HAVE THE POWER TO GIVE LIFE The resources found in this tool kit will provide you with everything you need to run events and activities in your school. What s included: Information on donating Key messages Social media messages School presentation (separate attachment) School announcements (separate attachment) Event poster (separate attachment) Recruitment event teacher information sheet (separate attachment) Typing event teacher information sheet(separate attachment) Swabbing event teacher information sheet (separate attachment) Clinic teacher information sheet (separate attachment)

2 Information on Donating Donating Blood To donate blood for the first time you must be: In good general heath, feeling well and able to perform your normal activities At least 17 years old Meet our height and weight requirements if you are between 17 and 23 years old Not sure if you are eligible? You'll find great information on criteria on blood.ca and the best place to start is to take the eligibility quiz. On the day of your donation, it is important that you have eaten and had adequate sleep. Want to know what to expect on donation day? Check out this video: Donating Stem Cells To register to be a stem cell donor, you must be 17 to 35 years old. Registration can be completed online at or by attending a swabbing event. There are seven steps involved with registering online. Learn more by visiting At a swabbing event, all it takes is ten minutes to fill in a general health questionnaire, a simple swab of the cheek and a willingness to donate to any patient in need. Not everyone who registers will be matched to a patient and asked to donate, but each registrant provides hope for those waiting. When selected as a potential match for a patient, Canadian Blood Services will contact the registrant to inquire if they are still willing and able to proceed with the donation. Additional health testing will then be performed to ensure the suitability of the match. There are two methods a registrant could be asked to donate; from the peripheral blood or from the bone marrow. These lifesaving stem cells are transferred to the patient to restore their health. For more information on donating stem cells, visit

3 Social Media Messages Make sure your message is short and that you have a clear ask for your audience. Do you want to raise awareness and share your relation to the cause? Do you want your personal contacts to visit the to get inspired and donate blood or stem cells on behalf of someone? It is possible for you to spark meaningful conversations in the digital world and share your attachment to the cause. Social media is the most efficient way to reach as many users as possible and engage with them. Be personal! The best way to engage people to the cause is to share your own story. Do you have a personal connection that has received blood/stem cells/organs and tissue donation? How are you getting involved with Canadian Blood Services? Are you one of our donors? Why is it important to you to donate? Answering some of these questions should help you in creating your social media post. Make sure your message is short and that you have a clear ask for your audience. Do you want to raise awareness and share your relation to the cause? Do you want your personal contacts to visit the to get inspired and donate blood or stem cells on behalf of someone? Here are some tips you should consider when writing your post: Use the hashtag #GiveLife Provide a link for more information (blood.ca) Include a picture with your post. Pictures have been proven to achieve a greater audience interaction and sharing information effectively. Share a video. Check out the Canadian Blood Services YouTube Channel Post as frequently as you can. Frequency ensures that the message stays top of mind. Visit blood.ca/share for social media messages already created!

4 Key Messages The Need Half of all Canadians will either need blood or know someone who will need blood at some point in their lives. Yet only four percent of Canadians donate. Over 100,000 new donors are needed every year to meet demand. A blood donation can treat cancer patients, bring a car crash victim through surgery, even help a transplant patient s new heart beat for the first time. Hundreds of Canadians require a stem cell donor for a stem cell transplant every year, and more than 75 per cent will rely on someone they don t know to save their lives. A wide variety of diseases and disorders are treated with stem cell transplants. These include specific forms of cancer like leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma and inherited immune system and metabolic disorders. Link between Blood and Stem Cell Donation The need for blood and stem cells go hand-in-hand. Patients who are so sick they need a stem cell transplant to survive often require large quantities of blood and blood products as part of their treatment. The most common need for a stem cell transplant is to treat some forms of cancers or blood disorders, which may cause an inability to generate healthy red blood cells that fight infection or healthy platelets that control excess bleeding. Depending on the type of cancer, transfusions of red blood cells or platelets may be necessary with the number of transfusions ranging from one to many on a daily basis for some patients.

5 Blood Less than 4% of eligible Canadians donate blood. You can change that by using your power to #GiveLife. Donating blood helps ensure an adequate supply for Canadian hospital patients. Please make time to #GiveLife Stem Cells Over 80 diseases or disorders can be treated by a stem cell transplant. Register today to Give Life by donating stem cells. Visit Only 25% of patients can find a stem cell match in their own family. Register to Give Life by donating stem cells today. Visit If you would like further information, please contact us at feedback@blood.ca.