Tillenay. Blood donation: there is still space available

"71 is the number of appointments remaining for this Wednesday's blood drive in Tillenay." The message left on the Facebook page of the Auxonne Volunteer Blood Donation Association on Monday afternoon, August 11, just two days before the event, sets the tone. The number of registered blood donors does not seem to be there at the moment.

"We organize a total of four collections in four months (June, July, August, September) during the summer," explains Anthony Dufour, president of the association. "And we had a lot of donations last month." Indeed, the last collection went very well. 137 people showed up and 132 were donated.

The president continues: "For this next collection, which is being held in Tillenay and not in Auxonne, we were hoping to attract new donors." The association has therefore done everything in its power to attract people. "We did a major leafleting campaign in Tillenay and also in Auxonne," emphasizes Anthony Dufour. Communication was also made on social media and apps.

However, the mobilization did not have the desired effect. Of the 90 available places, there were still about sixty appointments available as of Tuesday . "We've had four collections in the summer for two or three years now, and there's always one that's complicated," adds Anthony Dufour.

"Last year, it was the collection in Maillys that was lacking. We only had 48 or 50 donations," he adds. "But Wednesday's collection is looking really complicated, and that worries me a little." A situation that has the president thinking. "I was wondering again this morning if it wouldn't be better to plan only three collections in the summer and add one more at the end of the year, where we end up only having one collection in November."

However, Anthony Dufour remains hopeful: "I hope we will still have some walk-ins."

The collection will take place on Wednesday, August 13, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the village hall in Tillenay.