Canadian Blood Services will hold a blood donor clinic in Dresden on Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Ken Houston Memorial Arena. Members of the community are encouraged to book an appointment and donate blood to help support patients in need across Canada.
The clinic comes as Canadian Blood Services marked Living Donation Week, running Sept. 13 to 19, a time to celebrate and honour living kidney and liver donors, recipients and the medical teams that make transplants possible, while raising awareness of the life-changing impact living donors can have.
During the week, Canadian Blood Services was working to improve access and provide hope and support for thousands of Canadians waiting for a transplant, with the goal of inspiring more people to become living donors.
“Living donation is one of the most extraordinary gifts a person can give. Living donation offers transplant recipients shorter wait times, better health outcomes and the chance to return to activities they enjoy. We hope Living Donation Week inspires Canadians to learn more about how living donation impacts recipients, living donors and those close to them,” said Dr. Tanya Petraszko, vice-president of medical affairs at Canadian Blood Services.
More than 4,000 Canadians are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and about 250 die each year while waiting, according to Canadian Blood Services. Any healthy adult can become a living donor, whether by donating a kidney or a portion of their liver, and ensuring a donor’s safety and long-term wellness remains the top priority throughout the process.
Ottawa Senators hype man and musician DJ Prosper shared his own experience finding a living kidney donor after being diagnosed with kidney failure. “January 31st, we’ll never forget that date, that’s when I went for my regular blood test, knowing that I wasn’t feeling well,” he said, describing the fear and anxiety that followed his diagnosis. He later found a living donor who gave him what he called the gift of life. “What do you say to someone who’s about to save your life?” he said.
Canadian Blood Services works closely with organ and tissue donation and transplantation programs across the country, developing leading practices, professional education, public awareness, and data analysis and reporting, while also managing clinical programs that support interprovincial sharing of organs. One such program, the Kidney Paired Donation program, allows donors who are not compatible matches with their intended recipient to be paired with other compatible donor-recipient pairs across the country, creating chains of donation. Since 2009, the program has allowed donors to help a loved one receive a transplant even when they are not a direct match.
In 2025, close to 90 living liver transplants and more than 500 living kidney transplants were performed in Canada, with more than 100 kidney transplants made possible through the Kidney Paired Donation program alone.
More information on living organ donation, including how to become a living donor, is available at blood.ca/livingdonation, or through provincial and territorial living donation programs.
