In honour of my grandma

I vicariously donate blood.


Often, I find myself wanting to try something new and fabulous but don't: for fear that it doesn't work out, or I never finish what I start, or -- let's face it -- I'm too lazy.

I once told a friend (more a friend of my sister) that I wanted to make my own shoes. Homemade shoes!!! How hard could it be?

Some may say "you'll never know until you try." I sometimes find myself preferring "some ideas are terrible, and it's a good thing you never tried." The trick is knowing which ideas are the bad ones, and which ones may be worth the effort. My Homemade shoes never came to fruition. Maybe I need to focus on better ideas.


For years now, I've had bad blood. Literally. My whole immediate family does. We lived in England for almost 2 years and Canadian Blood Services thinks we might have the human version of Mad Cow disease (formally known as Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease.) As such, I am not allowed to donate blood.

I've always wanted to start some tradition of bringing someone to the blood clinic with me: ask/trick them into donating on my behalf. I wanted to start a campaign to Donate Blood Because the Fongs Can't (the DBBtFC campaign.)

Some ideas are bad. How could this one be bad? I needed a push in the right direction.
Today is the one month anniversary of my grandmother's funeral. She was battling cancer since late last year but was able to attend our family Christmas celebration in high spirits. I was told that one of the reasons my grandma was able to fight as hard as she did was the dozen or more blood transfusions that the hospital so generously gave her throughout her battle.

How's this for a push? My grandma was loved by many. How many of us donated blood?
So here's my motivation. My grandmother's transfusions helped her smile when we didn't think she had the strength. I can't donate blood, but maybe I can move you to help someone smile.
I was worried that this "campaign" would flop. But this wasn't my homemade shoe. This was a much, much better idea.

In honour of my grandma, I would like to start the Grandma Initiative. One day, one of your loved ones (maybe your grandma) will need blood. Wouldn't it feel great knowing that you helped contribute?
Please pass along this Initiative! Visit the Canadian Blood Services website and find a clinic near you.
Donate, and if you're willing, post a comment on this blog or the summarized Grandma Initiative posting. I would love to know that although I can't donate blood, I've convinced people to donate on my behalf.

Don't let this be my homemade shoe!

Quick Links:
Grandma Initiative
Clinic near you.
Can you donate blood?
An article with benefits of donating blood.
Another article with benefits of donating blood.