KTH gives the gift of life, gives back to the community

February 25, 2015 · 0 Comments

Employees of KTH Parts Industries Inc. in Shelburne are giving back, bonding and supporting the community in a unique way – by giving their own blood.
As part of the ‘Partners for Life’ (or PFL) campaign, KTH staffers have pledged 20 units of blood to Canadian Blood Services. Last Wednesday, six employees attended a blood donor clinic at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Centre (Shelburne Arena) and have already achieved 50 per cent of their goal.
“Partners for Life (PFL) is a standard national program designed to secure annual commitment to the blood system through partnerships with corporations and community organizations,” said Elaine St. Pierre, Territory Manager, York Region & South Simcoe for Canadian Blood Services. “The focus of the program is on blood collection, that can include plasma and platelet donors, and participation in the PFL program is based on an annual commitment to donate by the corporation or community organization. The program is not limited to employees or members, but open to friends and family as well, so it’s a real team effort.”
KTH employees chose to take part in the PFL program in order to increase participation in the community – even hosting a “what’s your blood type” clinic on site at the manufacturing plant before the blood donor clinic to ensure a wide range of blood types were donated.
“We are thrilled to partner with Dufferin County’s largest employer – KTH Shelburne Manufacturing Inc.,” said St. Pierre. “Canadian Blood Services has always received tremendous support from the community in Shelburne and having KTH on board is the icing on the cake. They are really engaged in fulfilling their pledge commitment and have made great strides in raising awareness about blood donation throughout their organization. It’s wonderful when management endorses a program like this and the results were evident at last night’s clinic.”
Eleven KTH employees took part in the first clinic, over half of which were first time donors.
Another group donation is being planned for the next clinic on Wednesday, April 15th (from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m.)
“As you know, our last clinic in December was closed down after collecting only five units of blood, due to the town-wide power outage,” said St. Pierre. “This was so unfortunate as our plan was to increase our collection target in Shelburne to ensure sufficient inventory was on hand for the Christmas holidays. It’s so wonderful that everyone turned out last week to support us!”
A total of 70 donors came through the door during the 3-hour clinic, resulting in 64 units of blood being collected.
“This result exceeded our target of 58 units, which is fantastic, and we would like to thank everyone who braved the blowing snow to ensure that hospital patients have the blood they need,” St. Pierre told the Free Press.
If you would like more information about Partners for Life, or the programs offered by Canadian Blood Services call 1-888-2DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or ‘Like’ them on Facebook at www.fb.com/CentralOntarioBlood

By Wendy Gabrek