Canadian Blood Services is trying to increase its blood inventory before July 1st.

Steve Raizen is Territory Manager. He says their inventory levels are lower than normal coming out of winter and spring. And with summer generally being a challenging time to collect donations, Raizen says the push is on over the next few weeks.

According to Raizen, summer is leaner for donations because the routines are disrupted for regular donors and many people are out of town on holidays. But the demand never stops. In fact, Raizen says there is increased demand because of additional vehicles on the road, resulting in more collisions. On top of that, people with blood disorders rely on blood transfusions every day, including during the summer.

Last month, Canadian Blood Services set a goal of collecting 16,000 donations of blood nationwide by July 1st. Raizen says there is enough blood on their shelves to meet patient needs today, but the goal is to increase that supply before the summer months.

According to Raizen, around 1,000 donations are needed each week in our province to meet hospital demand.

Raizen says only about 4 percent of Canadians are contributing to the blood supply. Canadian Blood Services is encouraging donors to get their friends and family involved.

June 11-17 is National Blood Donor week.

Here in the Pembina Valley, there will be a blood donor clinic June, 22 at the Winkler Mennonite Brethren Church, at the Access Event Centre in Morden, July 4th, and at the Rhineland Pioneer Centre in Altona, August 31st.