Kudos to Centennial advertising students Madison Papple and Katherine Carl-Musson, who managed to pull their classmates away from their books long enough to contribute to the industry’s growing blood drive. Troy Palmer, associate creative director at Bensimon Byrne, started the drive last year in honour of his daughter, Lily, who lives with a rare blood condition called hereditary spherocytosis. Word of the drive spread to the Toronto students through their instructor Anthony Thomas (who is also a director of business development at Extreme Group). From there, Papple and Carl-Musson started a poster and Facebook campaign and got Lily herself to come to Centennial (with mom Michelle) to ask for help.
On Feb. 20, 25 students and staff took part in the drive, joining other industry participants at a Canadian Blood Services clinic in Toronto and filling the clinic’s appointment book for the day. “The vibe of the day was incredible,” said Papple. “Troy, Michelle and Lily came in to say hi. Lily was running around. It was a really great feeling.” Thanks to the students and participants from 20 agencies and production companies, the five-day drive was extended by a full week. There were 107 donations in total, which Roop Sidhu, community development coordinator at Canadian Blood Services, translates as “up to 321 lives saved,” Lily’s among them.
