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[NSW, VIC, QLD] Free Kebab (10pm - 3am) + Other Freebies When You Donate Blood @ Red Cross (13-14 June)

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A worthwhile deal to snap up a freebie but also save lives at the same time.

Between 13/6 10pm and 14/6 3am, you will get a free kebab when you donate blood.

10pm-3am
The Bloody Great Friday ‘Donor’ kebab
The only thing more satisfying than eating a kebab at 1am is eating a kebab while saving lives…at 1am.


Between 12-3pm on the 14/6, you'll get some free food at the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane donor centres.

12pm-3pm
Celebrity chefs

Enjoy some posh nosh? Some local kitchen whizzes will be dropping into our donor centres to serve up some exclusive dishes.

Melbourne: Frank Camorra of MoVida
Sydney: Nelly Robinson of nel. restaurant
Brisbane: Richard Ousby of Stokehouse


Plus, other freebies during the day -

Throughout the donate-a-thon, we’ll be serving up a bunch of other fun surprises.

You can drop in, grab some sugary goodness, pose for a caricature artist and much more — but we’re saving some surprises for the day!

Related Stores

donateblood.com.au
donateblood.com.au
Australian Red Cross
Australian Red Cross

closed Comments

  • Good deal

    • +3

      what's the $/L of blood?

      • +3

        Still cheaper than fuel

      • +31

        OK, so the average person is unlikely to be in the market for this vital liquid, but for curiosity's sake the National Blood Authority prices 'whole blood (WB) red cells leucodepleted' at $2140 per litre. And while that's certainly expensive, it's still $6256 cheaper per litre than the HP ink.

        https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-and-technology/compute…

      • +8

        I used to work for CSL, the products they make from blood like clotting factors and immunoglobulin is like $2-4k per vial of 10-15 ml. Not too bad profit margin for a company if you can get your raw products for the price of a kebab.

          • +4

            @Diji1: Well look at it this way, most people have super, most supers have CSL in them.

            Therefore almost everyone is benefiting from this bloodbath, both shareholders and patients ;)

  • +1

    Can someone fix this please, "Between 13/6 10pm and 14/3 3am,"

  • +32

    Is it a doner kebab?

    • +51

      No. It’s donor kebab

  • +3

    Interesting idea, I wonder if there's a limit on your blood alcohol level.

    • +2
      • Actually drinking some alcohol itself does not affect the blood to be donated and they dont test your blood/breath. As long as the donor does not appear intoxicated and making a scene it would be fine.

        In some countries they do a pre donation minitest for aminotransferase level. Although this is mostly to screen for hepatitis n other liver problems but recent alcohol consumption will also lead to high aminotransferase level and ineligiblity to donate.

  • +28

    As a doctor, I'd strongly encourage people who can donate blood to do so - it's a small amount of time/effort to save lives!

    This is from a while ago but most points are still pertinent:
    https://www.google.com/amp/amp.abc.net.au/article/9963106

    • Second this

    • +2

      I just wish they wouldn't text me every month reminding me to go in. Makes me not want to, like a pushy salesman

      • Just unsubscribe. Worked for me. I have my own schedule and reminders now

        • -5

          Didn't work for me. Have had ongoing health issues preventing me from donating over the past 12 months and they will not leave me alone, two or three phone calls a month despite removing my phone number from my details and screaming at them to f' off and never contact me again.

    • +4

      Used to donate all the time, but got sick of being treated like a beggar when getting seconds of the party pies provided afterwards. When I have just gone out of my way in my own spare time to give my blood, they should be happy to give me all the party pies I want afterwards.

      • This. Not to mention the "deal with it" attitude around delays. I reckon every fifth donation (I give plasma nearly fortnightly) has an unannounced hour delay. Given the profits involved, I'm often astonished they don't do anything to prewarn, or make it easier to rebook.

      • +3

        It used to be like that at my donor centre until they moved and re-arranged the donor place to an open plan layout. Now they don't have someone watching over you, and you can eat what you want.

      • +17

        It's a not for profit organisation and you aren't the only one donating. I'm sure your donation is valued and no, you shouldn't be treated like a beggar, but nor should you be entitled to "all the party pies you want" either. The party pies are supposed to help people feel better after donating, not for you to pig out on.

        And seriously, if that was the last straw that meant you stopped donating, that's pretty sad.

        • -2

          I am totally in agreement with the triple-X mud dog on this one. Peeps ABSOLUTELY SHOULD be allowed to 'pig out' on as many party pies as they want, given the huge amount of time/inconvenience involved in giving blood, for no remuneration. At an absolute bare minimum it will take 1 hour to give blood (usually substantially more), and that does not include any travel time or associated expenses such as parking. That is 1 hour (plus) that could be spent working/earning money. Even at 'minimum wage', that is a minimum of $20 per hour. A 'mega-box' of party pies can be bought for $5 or less, and I'm betting that the Red Cross/blood donation overseers actually receive them as a donation by some kind-minded company/organisation.

          The ABSOLUTE LEAST the overseers of blood donation could do would be to make sure that whatever food they made available at the location was available on an 'ALL YOU WANT TO EAT' basis. Anything less is petty, and frankly, a real indication of ingratitude.

          • +1

            @GnarlyKnuckles: It's the Red Cross Blood Service, not the Red Cross All You Can Eat Buffet. And as the other commenter had trouble understanding: it's a donation, you shouldn't go in expecting remuneration in the form of party pies nor should you be performing mental costings of your time. It's an altruistic donation. The attitude on display here is anything but altruistic.

            Your comment seriously reads like satire. As you were told below, pull your head in.

      • Really? The Collins St in Melb CBD one is just help yourself… baskets of good stuff available… I always have fun there :)

      • +10

        I'm also a doctor, and as a doctor I strongly encourage you to pull your head in.

        Perhaps Cat, as a doctor, has been through the trauma of awaiting a delivery of additional O- because the actively dying patient continues to haemorrhage in front of her despite having been given the entire emergency stock of universal donor blood available. Or any one of a hundred other scenarios that would entitle her to feel that her experiences and qualifications are entirely relevant when discussing the topic of blood donation.

        Or you could continue to lecture strangers on the internet about why their good intentions don't sit well with you. Your call.

        • -6

          'My call' remains the original one; which you have evidently failed to read properly. I (again) suggest that it only makes sense to begin a post with 'As a Doctor' (or for that matter 'As a Real-estate agent …' or 'as a police-woman' or 'as a high-school teacher' etc.) if within that post you actually say something/impart some information or personal opinion that renders that initial assertion relevant. Your valiant attempt to retrospectively supply a hypothetical scenario that could possibly apply to 'Dr Cat' (who could well be a bloke by the way; your gender presumption is a bit old fashioned ;P) is exactly the type of thing I am alluding to. Without that type of example/rationale, 'Dr Cat' is contributing nothing more than an 'URL', and a statement that:

          'MMMmmm, not giving bloooood is baaad, mmmm-OK?' (hence my reference to the infamously substanceless Mr Mackay)

          Your call, Dr J (by the way, do you like B-ball?)

          • +2

            @GnarlyKnuckles: Shove your B-ball up your A-hole.

          • +3

            @GnarlyKnuckles: As a doctor, are you constipated? You seem like you're full of shi*

    • +1

      As a doctor, what do you think about their wait times to donate after traveling?

      Lying about so one can donate more often?

  • +4

    I also note that you get a free HSP if you donate a kidney

    • +3

      Rather get an iPhone for my kidney. Thank you very much.

    • If you donate someone a kidney I’ll buy you a hsp. I’d take it for myself but I have an issue with taking a live kidney

  • +1

    The ultimate incentive.

    On a serious note, I ask that someone please donate on my behalf; sadly I cannot :)

    • +13

      I got you covered mate.

      • Thanks! Super cool of you!

  • +7

    Ozbargainer meetup?

  • Shame, I can't book an appointment because I travelled overseas in the last 4 months :/
    In my case I went to South Korea.

    • +3

      That's not entirely true. If you have travelled in the last 4 months, you can still donate plasma.

      Unless for this event they specifically wants whole blood.

  • +2

    Unfortunately, freebies and entertainment only in designated donor centres.

  • +1

    Hold up can you give blood when you're under the influence?

    • +1

      What are they getting us ready for?

      Graveyard shift Uber Eats.

      Graveyard shift blood donation.

      Edit: sorry this wasn't meant to be a reply. Not influenced by anything or anyone either…

  • It's not free if I'm selling my blood to get it

  • Is it a dirty kebab?

  • +4

    Curse my potentially-tainted-with-mad-cow-disease blood.

  • +5

    excellent.

    is it 1 litre = 1 kebab?

    as I've got maybe 20 litres in the fridge

    • +1

      Wait, what?

    • Are they human blood?

  • +1

    Just FYI, they only take up to 500ml during a full blood donation session.
    You can also do other donation types like plasma.

    Awesome cause - your blood can literarly save lives!

    • +4

      473ml to be exact

      • +2

        they also take 2-3 samples which add up I suppose

        • +3

          Worked out that I've donated more than my current body weight through plasma, whole blood and the other tests they do. Wow.

  • +2

    If you don’t donate already, you should. This sounds like a great way to start.

  • +2

    Might want to change the title considering this isn’t nation wide and there’s two blood donating services here in Canberra. Perhaps “Free kebab when you donate blood SYD/MEL/BRIS xtime/date”

  • -1

    Have to hand in my ozb badge, donated 2 weeks ago so no kebab for me but I don't regret it :)

  • I donated yesterday, how soon again can I donate?

    • +2

      6 weeks

    • +7

      Problem is then you'd get people lying on the pre donate questionnaire E.g. the ones you can't check E.g. MSM. While I don't agree with that policy, it's all calculated based on risks from historical data.

      Since blood is usually combined with multiple other people's means at least 100 other people can get infected if patients lie in that questionnaire, and on screening they don't find anything (rare but possible)

  • -6

    Thanks but no thanks, I need my blood.

  • i always like the puzzles that you can do while donating + the munchies. and now kebabs 😃. i’m 99% sure all slots are booked by now.

    i don’t like the way they do bookings though. Whenever i go they ask shall i book you for the next 3-4 time ahead? i assume they do this for everyone that comes in which means slots in the system are booked out and not many people bother informing if you can’t make it for a future session meaning system won’t let anyone else book in.

  • +4

    Nice promo. But at my donor centre, they already have toast, jam, milk shake, cookies, biscuits, cheese, muffins, chocolate, fruits, cake, pretzels, etc. Some times sausage rolls, pies. All times of the day. It's worth donating even without the kebabs.

  • No Perth?

  • I always wonder, do they test each donor's blood for diseases? Aren't there people who can't give blood for various reasons? I'm asking because I have never donated blood before (I don't like needles and seeing blood).

    • +1

      Yes they do, and yes there are. There's an enrolment form you need to fill out before joining that states all the exclusion criteria. It's on the website too, I imagine.

    • +1

      You can mention that in the questionnaire form. If they identify anything, they will instead take a sample on that attempt to test on that. Once the results are out they will inform you and if no problems, no issues for any future donation.

      If you lie in the form I think it's a legal matter, if they find something serious later on…

  • +2

    You might actually need a blood transfusion after having a free kebab

  • Most blood used in Australia are bought from overseas, mostly from USA, where payment for blood is allowed.

    • +3

      There are many blood products. Typically red blood cells, FFP, cryoprecitate, platelets and RhD Ig are all locally collected and processed. Other blood products (with longer shelf life’s) may be imported. Eg, IVIg, factor components.
      Not all blood donations in the USA are paid.
      The cost assigned to blood is the manufacturing (and delivery) cost. Depending on the state, hospitals do (or do not) pay for blood. A patient is NEVER charged for RBC, FFP, etc. There is a charge for IVIg, factor components and the like.

  • I'm imagining a rotisserie at the local red cross blood bank.

  • Changed my appointment from 10th to 14th, while I use my lunch time to donate, I might as well get fed so I can get back to work right away. Thanks OP.

  • Made my appointment to donate plasma (I'm too anaemic to donate whole blood) on Friday 14 June at lunchtime in Melbourne. Maybe I'll see some fellow OzBargainers there?

  • What a pity that the dates fall right between my fortnightly plasma donations! Will have to make do with the party pies and sausage rolls instead :)

    • Just out of curiosity, How long have you been donating plasma on fortnightly basis? Reason I ask is they've changed me from whole blood to plasma; I was going back perhaps every 4-6 weeks but felt that I was falling sick much easier during that period that I decided to stop the routine and paced myself. Everyone's condition is obviously different, but have read online that regular plasma donation do affect one's immunity…

      • I'm still pretty new to it, started in September last year and have been going very regularly. I think I have skipped 1 appointment due to a cold, so it doesn't seem to have affected me too much. I find that I feel much better after plasma than whole blood (had a few fainting issues back in the day) - feel completely normal the next day, but after whole blood it used to take a little longer.

        I do find that I tend to drink a lot more (water!) on a regular basis compared to what I used to do (scull the water just the day of the appointment), think this probably helps with the immune system also.

        • You can be sick and still donate plasma. When I called up sick after a few days of donating it they weren't concerned at all.
          It's whole blood which they need to monitor.

      • I've been doing fortnightly donations plasma and plasma/platelets for years, I actually feel that it has made me healthier. The regular BP and iron checks are great to keep up with trends, and the quality of the plasma coming out can be an indicator of too fatty a diet etc… Otherwise, at most I've had colds that lasted 2-3 days and nothing else. Obviously what has made the most difference is making sure to hydrate well before and after the donations the day before and after.

  • I would love to donate blood however I can't as I am British and there is a chance I might be infected with BSE, can they not test for this to rule it out, thus allowing me to donate (and claim free kebabs)?

    • I'm in the same boat…

      I lived in the UK during the 80's so its easier to assume that we all have BSE rather than accept our donations.

      You would think in this day and age there would be a simple test for this so that we can be accepted to help and donate.

      In the meantime I suppose I will have to carry on moo-ing and chewing grass…

      • You would think in this day and age there would be a simple test for this

        There is, they just need to examine your brain tissue under a microscope.

        • There is, they just need to examine your brain tissue under a microscope.

          Is that deemed to be a 'simple' test?

          Sounds very time consuming and expensive to me…

          • +1

            @harveyworld: I also thinking the process of extracting brain tissue may be mildy painful…..

        • They've got to get the brain out first. It's got to be prepared.
          Treated.
          Diced.

  • +1

    Highly recommmend to donate blood if you’ve ever thought to do it. Just do it!

    It’s fun and rewarding

    • +1

      I donated blood at least 20 times when I was younger/could easily get the time off work to go and do it, but I haven't done it for quite a while. At least in Melbourne, it was always very time-consuming, tedious, quite often costly (re parking), and not the least bit 'fun'. There was never anything wrong with the actual blood-taking process, which was always performed relatively painlessly, swiftly/efficiently, and entirely professionally. The major problem was the complete lack of any efforts whatsoever to make it easy for peeps to come and donate in a timely manner, without having to pay (in both time and their own money) to do so. Or to put it more simply, to ameliorate the large amount of disincentives for peeps to come and donate.

      Each time I went to donate, at all three of the major hospitals I routinely did it at, there was a room full of disorganised people and everything moved very slowly. There were the standard hard plastic chairs to 'perch on' for up to an hour while waiting for the cogs to turn. About 20% of the time my lunch 'hour' (45 mins) would expire before I could be seen, and I had to make my apologies and leave. There was no large TV tuned to something 'neutral' like ABC news with sub-titles, to help the time pass. I read with envy about 'party pies' above, albeit strictly (apparently) on a 'one-serve-only!' basis. There was no such sustenance on offer anywhere I ever gave blood, only 1 or 2 jubes 'to replace your blood sugar', I was advised in reassuring/motherly tones.

      On a couple of occasions I asked about the possibility of coming back at an exact scheduled/pre-arranged time (i.e. making an actual appointment to give blood; like the way anything else that negates endless/unpredictable amounts of waiting/wasting everyone's time works), and you guessed it:

      'NOT POSSIBLE.'

      'Erm, why, may I ask?'

      'It's just not. We don't do that'

      This is just one of the major reasons why Australia has recurring shortages of donated blood. There are numerous compelling disincentives for anyone who cannot spare a 'random and unpredictable' hour (or up to 2 hours sometimes) on 'random days' to travel and park somewhere (at their own expense) to give blood. On top of that, beyond the 'warm fuzzy feeling' there are no actual incentives. In some developed countries they pay peeps who CAN spare the time to give blood, to do so. Quite literally the opposite of the Australian system, where donating blood will almost invariably cost you a lot of time, and at least some money.

      I am not necessarily advocating simply paying peeps to give blood here in Australia (though that would in fact be entirely logical if it saved the tax-payer in the long-run by increasing the availability of donor blood), but I must say I love this 'donor kebab' idea, and I reckon if it was combined with an efficient 'free-parking' arrangement and an appointment system, Australia's mundanely routine/standard/predictable donor blood shortages would cease to exist. If all public hospitals maintained a list of registered donors who would like to be invited to 'come on down' to the facility AT A DESIGNATED TIME, park for free, then be served a free 'donor kebab' (or 'falafel', should they prefer) at regular intervals, those donors would do so. Multiple times every year, as requested. No doubt. The requests could even be politely made via SMS/email to the regular donors of the required blood types (beyond just type-O, of course… those peeps would always be offered the 'donor kebab appointment'! ;P)

      I would be interested in the opinions of 'Dr Cat' and 'Dr J' on this. Do you guys agree that the reason that Australia routinely runs short of donor blood, necessitating huge tax-payer expenditure on extended TV ad campaigns advising the general public of the latest shortage crisis is that in Australia (unlike many other developed countries) the whole 'blood donation system' is so broken that any 'working person' gets so jack of the unpredictability, time-inefficiency, inconvenience, and monetary cost that donating blood involves that they do it once or twice, then give up?

      • In the country donations are by appointment only, no walk-ins. Unfortunately this isn't much better; I always try to book as early in the day as possible (to avoid a backlog) but instead often end up waiting outside a locked building because the staff haven't turned up to open it on time.

      • The place I donate @ is a small clinic dedicated to blood donations only and they seem very well organised (their is limited parking, but I've always manged to find a car park). And it's by appointment only. Every time I've gone to donate I've never been there for longer then 30-45 minutes….and I usually leave work 2-3 hours earlier to do it….

      • +1

        I tried to make a similar point above and was negged. I'm at 117 donations and fairly close to quitting over Red Cross's consistent disregard for the value of donor time.

        I get really frustrated with burning capital at work to rush out on time for a donation appointment… only to arrive on time and wait 1hr+ and face a "deal with it" attitude. This has also happened when I've called their phone line beforehand and been told certain medications won't affect a donation, only to be told the complete opposite after 80 minutes in the queue…and "that I should have checked first".

        Finally, their rescheduling is abysmal. I occasionally call if I'm unable to make a donation. There's never any checking by the call centre of the cancellations at the centre that day (sometimes they desperately need more people, sometimes they're running late and can't accommodate a donor who misses their time block). The practical impact is usually that I don't donate for another fortnight as their next-fortnight schedule is already full and they're unable to reschedule subsequent plasma appointments (not to mention my avoiding windows in my diary where I could probably donate but absolutely cannot afford to miss an appointment later in the day).

        • Sounds like that the place you donate at is not run very well.

          Could probably email someone to complain, but most likely will fall on deaf ears

          • @Danstar: My centre is the largest in Australia, and I donate at a peak time so some busyness is inevitable.

            Re feedback, I've conveyed the point numerous times in emails/feedback surveys/verbal discussions with managers, but it seems the lower ranked parts of the organisation have little chance to influence this.

            I suspect the more effective method will be voting with my feet. I walked out last Wednesday when they said "oh, there's at least a 45 minute wait today" citing the lack of a heads up (which would have allowed me to finish work with a measurable value) and another appointment when my donation was originally scheduled to conclude.

      • When I donate in Tassie it can vary quite a lot.

        Sometimes I get my "interview" quite quickly and I'm pumping blood within 10-20, and sometimes it can take longer. The worst is when you're waiting 30 minutes for no reason and then the interview takes another 20 mins. Then they take forever to hook you up. Longest I've taken for plasma (which in itself is 45~ minutes) is probably 1h50 and that's over 70 donations.

        I haven't had any one comment on the amount of food I take. I'm friendly with the staff and we know each other on a first name basis. Must be quite a bit different interstate. If I was treated like a second rate person I certainly wouldn't donate as regularly as I do.

        I think a lot more Aussies would donate if
        A) It was done in a scheduled and timely manner
        B) You were paid or there were a better incentive
        C) You feel like you made a difference.

        I know they have a new system going where you get a text notifying you of where your blood went to after your donation. That's good. But it's not exactly tangible.

      • The Bundoora centre is great, check it out sometime.

  • CSL are making mega profits for shareholders. Every ml of plasma is like gold. Donors pushed to donate, targets, targets. Bullying bosses, treating hardworking nurses on coal face with little respect, and even less gratitude for hard work.

  • Anyone know if the kebabs are going to be across all donor centres in the cities or just the central donation sites, or which specific venues the celebrity chefs will be visiting? The site is pretty lean on details.

  • Maybe I've missed something - it looks like all the appointments at the local centres are booked out? Do we need an appointment or do we just rock up? Its not clear to me.

    Edit: looks like CBD locations only.

  • anyone know where the sydney donation centre is?
    dont really wanna sign up to find out.

    • Town Hall near Kent St

  • Went earlier today, no appointments required

    Looked very odd seeing the caterers actually cooking food on the premises and the live band playing in the donation room

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