Joleen knows how crucial blood donation is

I started donating back in 2013 when some of my friends from work were talking about eating for their blood type, meaning that they were able to eat foods which were good for their blood type and bodies to process easier.

They were able to find out their blood type through donating, which made me think that I should learn a bit more about myself. I booked into the local NZ Blood donation centre and went along to see how it all goes. I was surprised at how fast, how easy and how friendly the process was. I was advised that from one donation could help with 3 blood transfusions for someone in need. Being a very rare blood type, this meant heaps to me!
Not long after that, I was faced with supporting a family member in hospital who needed over 10 blood transfusions to help them survive. This made me realise that my one donation would have saved up to 3 people's lives and thus, helped out up to 3 families from my first donation!

I have since been able to help over 25 families and their loved ones throughout my donation journey, which is forever continuing to grow.