OTTAWA -The Ottawa Senators and Canadian Blood Services are joining forces once again to recognize dedicated blood donors during the team’s game against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Scotiabank Place. The game serves as the Senators’ third annual Blood Donor Appreciation Night and salutes donors who participated in the Be Red, Give Red! Ottawa’s Biggest Blood Donor Clinic, which was held earlier this season.

Last October, the Senators and Canadian Blood Services encouraged fans to roll up their sleeves in a community-wide effort to reach a goal of 350 units of blood and 200 new OneMatch Stem Cell registrants. Following the drive, which was held on the arena floor of Scotiabank Place for the first time, it was determined that these goals had been successfully obtained.

“Senators fans and residents of our community once again demonstrated that in a time of need, they are there to help,” said Senators president Cyril Leeder. “With the assistance of our partners, we set out last fall to address the growing needs of our area hospitals. While demands continue to rise in Ottawa, we’re pleased to announce that in conjunction with Canadian Blood Services, we were able to recruit 350 units of blood, including 80 new donors with our ‘Be Red, Give Red!’ mega-clinic.”

"On average, every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood or blood products,” said Ian Mumford, chief operating officer of Canadian Blood Services.” We’d like to thank the Ottawa Senators for recognizing this fact and as a result of their collaboration, nearly 1,050 lives were potentially saved as a result of their support.”

Executives representing the blood drive’s sponsors including Baxter, Bayer, CSL Behring, EMC, Fenwall, IBM, Mobileyes, ONX Enterprise Solutions, SAP, Talecris and The Bytown Group will be on hand during Blood Donor Appreciation Night to present Canadian Blood Services’ national fundraising office with a contribution to help increase awareness of the importance of blood donations.

About Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the supply of blood and blood products in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec. Canadian Blood Services also oversees the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, and provides national leadership for organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Canadian Blood Services operates 42 permanent collection sites and more than 20,000 donor clinics annually. The provincial and territorial Ministries of Health provide operational funding to Canadian Blood Services. The federal government, through Health Canada, is responsible for regulating the blood system. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.blood.ca.