PENTICTON – New Year’s celebrations may have had an impact on donations during day two of this week’s regularly scheduled Canadian Blood Services clinic in Penticton.

Donors had the opportunity to donate blood for the last time last year, or for the first time this year at this week’s clinic, which took place over a unique window, running from Dec. 31, 2014, to Jan. 2, 2015.

“I’ve been volunteering for five years, and haven’t yet seen a clinic scheduled over New Years,” said Canadian Blood Services volunteer Kathy Krenn.

Krenn observed after a brisk New Year’s Eve at the clinic, things slowed down on New Years day.

“Yesterday was steady all afternoon. Today things didn’t get off to a great start,” Krenn said on Jan.1. “There was a computer problem initially, and some donors had to be rescheduled.” Afternoon traffic at the clinic appeared to be slow, she added.

“Hopefully, Friday will be more of a normal day,” she said.

Marcello Dominguez, External Communications Specialist with Canadian Blood Services, said due to holidays there was no one available to speak about this week’s clinic in Penticton.

“I can say that we need more Canadians to book appointments this holiday season to donate blood. The weeks before and the week after Christmas are typically a challenging time for blood collections as many donors are travelling or are busy with family. The need for blood, however, doesn’t take a holiday. The need for blood and blood products is constant. We need to be proactive now to ensure hospital patients receive the blood and blood product they need throughout the year,” Dominguez said.

The Penticton clinic runs through this afternoon at the Penticton Seniors Drop In Centre, 2965 South Main Street.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.