Every blood donation helps to save lives. Cognera has always believed in the importance of this statement and thus made it a major part of the volunteer efforts every year.
Blood and blood products are a critical part of everyday medical care as they are used for everything from medical surgeries to cancer treatments, and managing disease. Cognera employees, like most everyone else, have been affected in one way or another by those in need of such care and therefore are always eager to do their part.Recently Cognera participated in donations as part of the Calgary Corporate Challenge. The event saw 15 of our 45 staff head down to the Canadian Blood Services main clinic in Calgary, where one pint of blood was donated by each person. This effort was able to earn Cognera a 2nd place finish overall in this year’s competition.
Although it’s always fun to make blood donation a part of the annual Corporate Challenge, that doesn’t mean it is a once a year commitment for the team at Cognera. Employees actually make a point to donate year round with the men going in every 56 days and the women every 84.
Everyday medical emergencies such as heart attacks and car crashes require local hospitals to have an appropriate amount of blood and different blood types on hand. Given the demand and uniqueness of the product, it really does make for a project the whole office can get behind. Everyone has blood in them, and the more people you get out, the greater chance you have of supplying the different blood types needed.
With Cognera’s blood donations now at 8 years and counting, the team plans to make sure the tradition continues on. As new employees join the company, the old saying, “bringing in new blood,” seems to become that much more applicable.