For his birthday, Osoyoos resident Tom Fritz got a unique gift from his youngest child.

“I’m going to donate blood for your birthday,” Christine Fritz, who lives in Clayton Heights on the Langley-Surrey border, told him when she phoned him with best wishes on his 72nd birthday.

“Thanks,” he said.

On Saturday, March 11, at the Canadian Blood Services clinic at the Walnut Grove Lutheran Church, Christine made her eighth donation.

Christine explained she started giving blood because she couldn’t directly donate to her dad when he required blood transfusions.

“We have different blood types” Christine told the Langley Advance Times.

“If I’m out there donating, someone else is donating for him. I donate as often as I can.”

Other family members have also required blood transfusions, she added.

“I’m always telling people to donate.”

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123 donations were collected at the donor event in Walnut Grove a few units short of the collection target of 129. There were 15 new donors.

Donors can book an appointment online at https://www.blood.ca/en.

Although appointments are required to donate, same-day and open-appointment spots often become available, the agency advises. People are encouraged to check for open appointments on the day of specific donation events. Donation spots often become available and need to be filled.

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An online help page about the process notes a standard donation is approximately 450ml, slightly less than half a litre or two cups.

This represents a small portion of the blood in a person’s body, as the average adult has about 5 litres.

The entire process takes just over an hour.

Canadian Blood Services is a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides blood, plasma and stem cell services for patients on behalf of all provincial and territorial governments except Quebec.