Maitland Blood Donor Centre is looking for 110 community members to "flex" their generosity and donate blood over the next two weeks.
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As lockdown ends and people return to pre-pandemic life, Australian Red Cross Lifeblood is calling on locals to not forget about the lives of patients in hospital.
Blood type, negative O, is particularly in demand, the blood group used in emergency situations such as accidents and trauma.
For husband and wife Johno and Anna Greatbatch donating is an easy way to give back to the community.
In fact, the pair have notched up about 100 donations between them.
"It's a way to help out the community. I'm an enrolled nurse so I see firsthand some of the sick people who need a transfusion," Ms Greatbatch said.
"It's a way we can help people who are the most vulnerable, if you're needing a transfusion you're pretty sick.
"It's an easy process. You just sit in a chair for a bit of time and the people are really nice. I would encourage everybody to give it a go."
As an incentive to keep giving, Lifeblood has partnered with six Aussie artists, including internationally renowned artist Ken Done, to design a vibrant range of limited-edition artwork bandages that will be available in centre between now and November 14.
Speaking about the campaign, local spokesperson Brian Bruce said blood donation is an act of altruism, a trait highly desirable by both men and women.
"We discovered that a blood donation bandage highlights a blood donor's unseen or unknown positive traits, like their health and generosity," he said. "In particular, our experiment found a person wearing a blood donation bandage was rated as significantly more generous compared with a person not wearing one."
Joining Ken Done in designing the bandages are artists David Booth, Eric Bridgeman, Francis Cannon, Vipoo Srivilasa, and Kaylene Whiskey.
With a blood donation needed every 24 seconds in Australia, Lifeblood is calling on Maitland residents who have never donated before to sign up and for existing donors to book a donation.
To book a donation, visit lifeblood.com.au, call 13 14 95 or download the free Donate Blood App.