Canadian Blood Service short 4,800 B.C. donors in coming 3 weeks

Canadian Blood Serviceis urging British Columbians to give blood as demand increases but winter weather makes donating more of a challenge.

In a statement, Canadian Blood Servicenotes that across the country a number of clinics have been cancelled and there has also been a decline in the number of donors able to attend.

"Our most challenging three weeks of the year are really the next three weeks. So this coming week and the week of Christmas and the [first week of 2017]," said David Patterson with Canadian Blood Serviceof B.C. and Yukon.

"We have about 4,800 open appointments in B.C. alone over that three-week period."

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Patterson says the blood service is about 5,000 to 6,000 units short of where they'd like to be at this time of year. A unit of blood is about 450 ml.

Gayle Voyer, the blood service's territory manager for the Interior, says she hopes people will think of donating blood as "the gift that can't be bought."

"You're saving the life of a hospital patient, and giving a family their holidays back," she told Radio West guest host Josh Pag.

Interested donors can book an appointment, locate a clinic, and check their eligibility with the Give Blood App or at blood.ca.

With files from Deborah Goble and CBC Radio One's Radio West

To hear the interview withGayleVoyer, click the audio labelled:Canadian Blood Service short 4,800 B.C. donors in coming 3 weeks