Bloody good effort

By Glen Atwell
DANDENONG blood donors potentially saved 720 lives when the Red Cross mobile unit visited the St Mary’s Community Centre last week.
Greater Dandenong mayor Youhorn Chea was one of 240 donors who gave the gift of life as the Red Cross collected more than 110 litres of blood in two days.
Kerstin Schulenburg from the Red Cross said the visit to Dandenong was an overwhelming success.
“We were booked out for the entire two days, it was fantastic,” she said,
The response means the mobile blood bank will return to Dandenong in March.
“We’ll be coming back on March 7 and 8, between 1.15pm and 7.30pm at the St Mary’s Community Centre,” Ms Schulenburg said.
Cr Chea encouraged all the city’s residents to give the gift of life by donating blood.
“If you’re a new donor, now is a great time to start giving blood.
“Many people would not be alive today if it was not for the kindness of donors,” Cr Chea said.
One in three Australians will need blood at some stage in their life, yet only three per cent of the population donates.