WHEN Ross met Jackie it was like a scene from a movie, but the setting wasn't a romantic restaurant; it was the Mt Waverley blood bank.

"When I met him, his face just lit up like a lightbulb," Jackie Murphy said.

Ross Whitford is a blood and plasma donor, and Ms Murphy relies on the donations of people like him to stay alive.

The two met at the Red Cross's Blood Donor Centre in Mt Waverley last week as part of Ms Murphy's mission to meet

the people who save her life.

"I have primary immunodeficiency, my immune system doesn't function properly and I need plasma every 28 days," she said.

"It's terrific to meet the donors. The difference they make to my life is so dramatic; I wouldn't be here without them."

She said people donating blood and plasma often didn't realise how appreciated their donations were."Meeting donors helps them make that connection; they are saving someone's life."

Mr Whitford, who has given blood more than 350 times, said donating had become a part of his life.

"The comradeship among the donors and the staff is what I treasure most about being a plasma donor.

"Because we can go in each fortnight, rather than every three months, it becomes part of the regular routine and there is a terrific rapport."

To donate blood to the Red Cross service, call 131495 or visit www.donateblood.com.au