A hockey game is not the only thing that the Red Deer Rebels and the Lethbridge Hurricanes will be competing for a victory for this hockey season. During the month of January, the teams will be competing to see who can gain more blood donations for the non-profit organization, Hockey Gives Blood.

Hockey Gives Blood was formed following the Humboldt Bronco tragedy. The organization is partnered with Canadian Blood Services in an effort to increase the awareness about the importance of blood transfusion in the hockey community.

To kick off the start of the blood drive, Grayson Cameron, former Humboldt Bronco and current Midget AAA Optimist Chief assistant coach attended the Rebels versus Hurriances game on Wednesday, January 2nd, as a way to encourage people to support Hockey Gives Blood.

Cameron was humbled by the generosity following the Humboldt Broncos tragedy saying that “It’s just something that people really rallied around and it’s a great thing to see. I am so thankful for all the support we’ve gotten and I just hope they can show support to Canadian Blood Services and any other charities like that.”

Blood donations were extremely important to the victims involved in the Humboldt Broncos tragedy and Cameron reflected, “I was lucky enough not to need any blood transfusions, but a lot of my teammates did and it saves lives. That’s very important to me and very important to other people, and it’s just something I think everyone should give.”

Since the tragedy, Cameron is happy to be living in Red Deer and coaching minor hockey saying, “This is home now, so that’s awesome.”

People can give blood to support the Hockey Gives Blood challenge and their team of choice throughout the month of January by contacting their local donation centres or by visiting blood.ca by clicking here.