Within a week of being donated, blood is given to someone in need.

The need for blood never ends and to help keep up with the demand, Lethbridge College partners with Canadian Blood services every November to do a blood drive.

At the college during the week, representatives from Canadian Blood Services can be found testing students’ blood types and helping them sign up to be donors.

“They’re part of a program called Partners for Life, so they agree to donate so many units of blood to us every year. This year the college agreed to pledge 500 units and they’ve actually succeeded that. As of [Nov. 14] they’ve donated 514 units of blood,” Canadian Blood Services territory manager Belinda Tomiyama explained.

This is the 11 year of the partnership between the college and CBS. Tomiyama said the number of donors from the college helps, but there is always a need for more donors.

To keep up with the demand, Lethbridge needs 1,600 people to donate blood every month as well as 200 new donors every month.

“I don’t think that unless you’ve had it affect you, people understand the need for blood.”

Blood Services sees regular donors as men can donate blood every 56 days while women wait 84 days between donations.

The entire process of answering a questionnaire, going through a brief blood test, donating blood and hanging out after to make sure the donor is okay, takes about an hour total.

“It’s a good thing to do. I’ve got extra blood, I don’t mind sharing,” nine-time donor Nathan Hill laughed.

Something that Hill said keeps him coming back is the knowledge that the need for blood will never end.

“It’s not as bad as you think, it’s over pretty quickly,” he added.

To find out if you’re an eligible donor, click here.