FOR the 21st time the Australian Red Cross Blood Service’s Summer Heroes Blood Rush has begun.
The blood rush campaign aims to get corporate groups, public services, sporting clubs and community organisations to take part in the challenge and donate blood from November 10 to February 29.
This year the Red Cross is hoping to gain 3,000 donations after its 2,590 donations last year.
As part of the campaign, WA Business News is giving corporate donors a free eight-week trial subscription.
For every one of those free trials that is converted to a paid subscription, WA Business News will donate $20 to the Red Cross.
Curtin University of Technology is the organisation to beat. It wrested the trophy away from traditional winners the WA Police Service and the Motorcycle Riders Association with their 381 donations.
That was a record number of donations from any one organisation.
Curtin dean Lance Twomey said the university was aiming to top its own record in this campaign.
The university also won the inter-universities challenge, recognised by the Vampire’s Cup.
At the launch of the 2003 Summer Heroes Blood Rush campaign, Bali bombing survivor Peter Hughes spoke of the importance of blood donations.
"Before Bali happened I was scared of hospitals and had only given blood once. That was when I was with the Perth Football Club and we’d organised to donate as a team," he said.
"Now I want to give blood but I can’t because I’ve been exposed to certain types of bugs in Bali that rule me out."
Princess Margaret Hospital oncologist Catherine Cole said blood and blood products were essential for a lot of the chemo therapies that were used on child cancer patients.
The Summer Heroes Blood Rush campaign was started by the Motorcycle Riders Association in 1982.
Traditionally the MRA and the WA Police Service have been the main contenders for the total.