Food trucks and music drew more than 100 people to Porirua’s new donor centre for its Bloody Good Night Market, with visitors rolling up their sleeves to donate and booking appointments to come back.
The celebration at 3 Heriot Drive on Thursday 29 October gave residents a chance to meet the New Zealand Blood Service team, find out their blood type and see inside the city’s new Blood and Plasma Donor Centre.
Outside, DJ Cruise provided the music alongside food stalls and family entertainment. Inside, regular donor Grant McKenna made his first donation at the Porirua centre.
Others walked in to donate on the night or arranged to give blood or plasma at a later date.
“What a memorable evening. It was awesome to see so many people enjoying themselves, asking questions and finding out how they can help save and improve lives,” NZBS donor relations team leader Sarah Field says.
The market followed a busy first three weeks for the centre, which opened on 5 October. In that time, 562 donors gave 620 donations, made up of 220 whole-blood and 400 plasma donations.
Of those donors, 83 were giving for the first time and 479 were returning donors.
The centre is the blood service’s second permanent site in the Wellington region and gives Porirua residents somewhere to donate plasma locally for the first time. It has capacity for around 215 plasma appointments and 75 whole-blood appointments each week.
“Porirua has a proud history of supporting our mobile whole blood drives, and the way the community has embraced the new centre from day one has been incredible,” Field says.
“We hope this strong start encourages more people across Porirua to become regular plasma or blood donors.”
That ongoing commitment is needed well beyond the centre’s opening celebrations. NZBS says more than 42,000 New Zealanders receive blood or plasma each year, with more than 5,000 donations needed every week to meet demand.
The Porirua centre operates Monday to Friday. Blood and plasma appointment times differ, and bookings can be made through the New Zealand Blood Service website, the NZ Blood Service Donor App or by calling 0800 448 325.