Donations for this year’s Summer Heroes Blood Rush by the Red Cross Blood Service are coming in at the trickle rather than the flow many had hoped for.
The blood rush aims to bring in 3,000 donations by the end of February to meet its demand for whole blood and blood products needed for medical treatments.
So far the tally stands at little more than 1,000, prompting the Red Cross to believe it may not meet its target.
That could mean a big drop on last year’s result when the combined tally for WA and the Northern Territory businesses was 3,630.
However, while getting the donations in is a prime focus, this year’s blood rush has also been aimed at boosting the number of businesses registered with the Red Cross for group corporate donations.
Red Cross spokesman Patrick Kennedy said the registration side had been progressing well with about 200 businesses signing up.
“We’re trying to get a coordinator from each business to get things organised for corporate groups to donate,” he said.
By getting corporate groups to register, the blood service is hoping that it can guarantee a steady flow of donations year-round.
Mr Kennedy said winter was traditionally a slow time for the blood service, largely due to the higher prevalence of colds and flu, which prevent people from donating blood.
The Summer Heroes Blood Rush is in its 23rd year, starting off as a challenge between the Motorcycle Riders Association and the WA Police Service.
It aims to get businesses and organisations to donate blood.
This year the WA Police Service is in the lead with 89 donations.
It is followed by B Digital with 30, Scouts Australia and the WMC Kwinana Nickel Refinery with 23 donations each and CBH with 18.
Last year Curtin University was the winner with 256 donations. That was the university’s second win in two years.
The WA Police Service was 2004’s runner up with 219 donations followed by the National Australia Bank, BankWest and Rotary.
Mr Kennedy said this year the Red Cross had decided to break the tally into categories to give smaller organisations greater encouragement.
“Otherwise you end up with a corner store trying to compete with the likes of the National Australia Bank,” he said.