National Volunteer Week – Héma-Québec pays tribute to its thousands of volunteers

Montréal, April 7, 2014—Every day, Héma-Québec can count on the contribution of volunteers who enable it to fulfil its mission of giving life. Héma-Québec is taking advantage of National Volunteer Week to pay tribute to its thousands of volunteers. Whether it be donors giving blood or stem cells or volunteers giving their time to recruit them and welcome them at blood drives, both are making an invaluable gesture to help thousands of people regain their health.

Germain Bonneau has been a volunteer with Héma-Québec for 53 years. He still remembers the year he began lending a hand for the cause: “It was 1961. I was a student at Université Laval in Québec City and, as part of the Carnaval de Québec, we decided to organize a blood drive. I learned about blood donation at a young age because my brother had leukemia and my entire family had gone to the hospital to give blood. Since then, I have always been active as a volunteer. Héma-Québec is “nice volunteering”; people are happy to give their time for our cause. They know how important it is,” says Mr. Bonneau, who acts as President of the Montérégie section and Provincial Vice-President of the Association of Blood Donation Volunteers (ABDV).

Celebrating volunteers

Each year, Héma-Québec organizes recognition evenings to acknowledge the contribution of volunteers. Over 1,000 volunteers will be expected at ceremonies to be held in the days following National Volunteer Week. This is a way to recognize their generosity and their contribution to the cause of giving life.

“Volunteers are a key resource. Through their vital contribution, which makes all the difference, they allow us to better meet the needs of patients in need of blood components,” states Dr. Jean De Serres, President and CEO of Héma-Québec.

Héma-Québec is always looking for new volunteers. To find out more, consult the Other ways to give section of the Héma Québec website at www.hema quebec.qc.ca.

About Héma-Québec

Héma-Québec's mission is to efficiently provide adequate quantities of safe, optimal blood components, substitutes, human tissues and cord blood to meet the needs of all Quebecers; to provide and develop expertise along with specialized and innovative services and products in the fields of transfusion medicine and human tissue transplantation.

Héma-Québec encompasses 1,300 employees, over 300,000 donor visits to blood drives per year, 16,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 blood products delivered annually to Québec hospitals to meet the needs of patients.

Give blood. Give life. 

- 30 -

Sources:

Héma-Québec
Media Line | 514-832-0871
www.hema-quebec.qc.ca