August 3, 2010 | British Columbia

Staff and students to raise awareness about need for blood in Canada

Vancouver, BC - August 3, 2010 - During the week of August 16-20, 2010 staff, students, family and friends of CDI College will join forces to donate blood and raise awareness about the need for blood and bone marrow donors across the country. This first annual event was conceived following the death of CDI College student Chantelle Chornoby after a courageous battle with cancer.

Students are being encouraged to sign up to donate blood, as well as register for Canadian Blood Services' OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. As a member of the War Lake First Nations, Chantelle Chornoby had access to just 1% of the 220,000 bone marrow donors on the registry because each ethnic group has specific markers unique to it. With such a diverse ethnic population in Canada, donors are needed from all communities to ensure others in Chantelle's position will win their battles with cancer and other disease.

"The blood drives held by CDI College are important because, for one thing, it was important to Chantelle," said Candice Laliberty, Chantelle Chornoby's mother.  "Only 1% of the 220,000 people on the OneMatch registry were aboriginal, and there was no match for Chantelle. She wanted to make sure that other aboriginals were able to have a better chance at finding a match and so she said, 'I want to raise that number, and get more people on that registry so that someone else in my place can have a chance at life.'"

Campuses in each province have been issued an ID number by Canadian Blood Services and donations will be tracked all week to see which province signs up the most donors. The general public is encouraged to join in and donate on behalf of Chantelle and CDI College at the Canadian Blood Services clinic nearest you.

Keep up to date with news and events from the blood drive by following CDI College on Facebook and Twitter.