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

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 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 50,000 donations of blood nationwide by July 1. 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.

Meanwhile, National Blood Donor Week is June 11 to 17.

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