Garry McCracken

A long-time philanthropist and an extremely active and outdoorsy person, Garry wanted to mark his 70th birthday in a special way. It was his goal to bike across Canada in 70 days all while raising money for one of his favourite causes, Canadian Blood Services.

The pandemic put a stop to his cross-country biking goal, but Garry was still determined to do something charitable to honour his milestone birthday. Garry took to social media to encourage friends and family to become a donor at Canadian Blood Services or at the local blood system wherever they lived in the world. He encouraged giving of all kinds: blood, plasma, platelet donations, registering to donate stem cells and financial gifts were all welcome contributions. His birthday wish was to recruit 70 new donors to support Canada’s Lifeline and other similar organizations internationally.

Garry is well on his way to meeting his goal and he himself has donated over 87 times. A regular and reliable plasma donor, there’s no doubt he will reach 100 donations very soon.