Wanderers fans give blood in exchange for ticket voucher to season opener

Laura Flight · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 18, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

More than 600 Halifax Wanderers fans person rolled up their sleeves and donated humor for a escaped footwear astatine seeing the nonrecreational shot squad successful action.

The Canadian Premier League squad has partnered with Canadian Blood Services successful an effort to boost humor donations and enactment much fans successful the seats for the Wanderers' play opener. In speech for donating betwixt April 2 and 19, Wanderers fans receive a summons voucher for admittance to Saturday's game against Pacific FC astatine the Wanderers Grounds successful Halifax.

The promotion has attracted immoderate Wanderers fans who were already play summons holders but hadn't antecedently donated blood. It has besides helped crook some longtime donors into first-time fans.

Hosherdar Polad, who donates each 3 months oregon so, was among the much than 100 people who made appointments at the blood donation centre connected Bayers Road connected Tuesday.

"Why not premix shot and a large origin together," Polad said, recalling what he thought erstwhile he saw the advertisement for the Wanderers' humor thrust and joined the team's societal media pages. He'll beryllium watching his archetypal Wanderers game connected Saturday acknowledgment to the promotion.

The donation centre was thrilled to articulation forces with the Wanderers due to the fact that donations are ever needed, said Krysta Hanakowski, spokesperson for Canadian Blood Services. She said the team's blood thrust has brought successful hundreds of first-time donors. 

"It's important to person things similar this to assistance promote radical who person ne'er made a donation before to travel connected retired and marque their archetypal one," said Hanakowski.

Wanderers ticket manager Jack Mol, who took his ain crook donating humor connected Tuesday, came up with the thought for the humor drive.

The Wanderers Grounds tin present accommodate much than 7,000 fans with the caller summation of astir 1,000 seats. Mol said the squad wanted to gully successful caller fans portion besides contributing to the community, and mounting up a humor thrust to get soccer fans progressive was 1 mode to capable much seats successful the session arsenic well.

"We are successful the unsocial presumption wherever we person the quality to effect alteration successful our community," helium said. "Starting a humor thrust was the champion mode I thought we could link with radical successful the city."

Derek Martin, president of Halifax Wanderers FC, has been pleased with the turnout and said helium hopes to marque the humor thrust an yearly contented for the opening of the season.

"We've got large fans," said Martin, noting the squad partners with assemblage organizations passim the play successful a assortment of promotions.