Staff at Toronto agency Bensimon Byrne joined together to break a record yesterday, part of an effort to help colleague Troy Palmer save his daughter’s life.
The employees donated 44 units of blood at Canadian Blood Services’ King St. location—the largest contribution the site has had in a single day—in support of Palmer’s 13-month old daughter, Lily, and other children in need.
Lily has a hereditary medical condition called Spherocytosis, and has to undergo blood transfusions every six to eight weeks until she’s old enough to have her spleen removed.
“We bring her to Sick Kids and see all of the kids in oncology and hematology, so we really get a bigger sense of the need for it, and we see more than just our daughter who needs this blood,” said Palmer, an associate creative director at the agency. “It’s such a simple thing that people can do, but it goes so far and it’s so important.”
With every donation divided into three different parts (red blood cells, platelets and plasma), 132 patients will benefit from yesterday’s clinic.
To encourage donations and promote the drive, Palmer and his creative partner Mike Lee, developed an internal poster campaign.
The posters take on the look of pages from a baby book with family photos, ribbon, building blocks and uses headlines like “You’re both afraid of needles. The difference, is that you have a choice,” and “After all of your years in advertising, don’t you think it’s time for a little good karma?”
The body copy reads: “In her short little life, Lily has had over a half dozen blood transfusions. There’s no telling how many more she may have. On Tuesday, October 21st, please join us and donate in her honour… You may end up helping her, or any one of the many boys and girls she sees regularly at Sick Kids. Thank you.”
Palmer is also considering a blood drive challenge between various agencies in the “agency row” of Toronto’s King West community.
