‘One hour is just nothing’: Toronto man honoured for 500th blood donation

A Toronto man is being recognized for reaching 500 plasma donations, marking decades of giving back and inspiring others to donate during the busy holiday season.

December might be one of the busiest months of the year.

It’s a lot – managing work, an increased number of family commitments, shopping, and checking your own lists twice.  Plus, if you have children there’s a good chance that you are in the throes of seeking out holiday magic whenever and wherever possible.

Making a donation to Canadian Blood Services might not be a high priority, but community development manager Sharon Schaab is hoping you might reconsider.

“The last two weeks of December especially are a very difficult time for us to collect because people get really busy with activities and holidays and maybe just don’t make blood donation the priority at that point,” Schaab said. “Right now, the hospitals have what they need, but we need donors coming in every day in order to sustain that a stable supply.”

Over the next five years Canadian Blood Services predicts the need for blood will increase by about 10 percent and the need for immunoglobulins is going to increase by about 50 per cent.

Nazir Jaffer is a regular at a donation centre in Toronto’s east end.

He chooses to donate plasma, something people can do every week. “The service which I’m doing is helping the sick people. And the sick people they depend on us,” Jaffer said. “The whole procedure it takes about one hour. So, one hour is just nothing, you know, for the sacrifice.”

This week Jaffer reached an incredible milestone – 500 donations. At the age of 67, he has built in “giving back” as part of his routine and rarely misses an appointment.