By Olivia Condous
Local councils are battling it out this winter to save the most lives by donating blood through a Lifeblood challenge.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood is running a competition from July 1 to September 30 to see which local government area can donate the most blood or plasma.
Residents can participate by registering for an online blood donor account, joining their local council or shire team and booking in to donate.
Melton council is registered as part of the challenge, as one of more than 300 local government areas and teams.
The challenges comes as Melton is set to gain a Lifeblood donation pop-up centre next month, with Red Cross making an effort to encourage more Australians to donate during a time of national blood shortages.
The Melton pop-up donor centre will be open at the community centre from August 29 to September 9, operating every day except September 1 and 4. The centre will only be accepting blood donations and not plasma.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood made an urgent national call for donors last week, after flooding in New South Wales and rising cases of flu and COVID-19 were causing blood stocks to dwindle.
Lifeblood spokesperson Cath Stone said 33,000 donations are needed every week to support patients, around one third of them usually collected from NSW donor centres.
As a national organisation, we need others around the country to step up and ensure patients continue to receive the blood and blood products they need.”
To book visit lifeblood.com.au, download the Donate Blood app or call 13 14 95.
