Blood Drive at Damodar City Centre, Suva, Fiji
Be a Hero, Save Three Lives!
Sai Prema Foundation and One Fiji Volunteer Group
The youth of Sai Prema Foundation (Fiji) embarked on yet another journey to collect some much needed “liquid love” – Blood! The youth teamed up with the Fiji National Blood Services who are part of the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and conducted a day long blood drive on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at Damodar City Centre, a busy suburban shopping centre located in Suva.
Some of the ‘One Fiji volunteers’ of the day encouraging people to donate blood and leading by example
Registration
Health Screening
This service activity was prompted in lieu of a recent plight by the Ministry and the Fiji National Blood Service highlighting a critical shortage of blood at their blood bank in Suva. Therefore, considering the need of the hour, a blood collection drive was organised.
The day started early for the youth who took on the challenge of coordinating and hosting the blood drive. The team was led on this day by core members of Sai Prema Foundation (Fiji) and also for the very first time, ‘One Fiji Volunteers’. The ‘One Fiji Volunteer Group’ is the public volunteer arm of the Foundation whereby members of the public are encouraged and given opportunities to volunteer, help and make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged and needy people of Fiji.
The Heroes of the Day – their blood will save lives!
Keeping the norm in mind, the youth also arranged for fresh fruit, biscuits and fruit juice for the donors who were nourished upon completion of their blood donation. While the medical professionals from the Fiji National Blood Services conducted their duties, from registration to screening of the patients, to conducting iron tests and finally leading to blood extraction, the youth decided to make themselves useful and encouraged people to donate blood by highlighting its need and benefits, especially to nervous, first-time donors walking down the busy mall.
In addition, the youth took advantage of this opportunity and decided to have a chat with the donors and advise them of post-donation care, such as drinking lots of water and having a proper meal, avoiding any strenuous physical exercise for the next 24 hours, and so on. This was again acknowledged by the donors and the youth were commended for the “love and care” shown.
The “Be a Hero - Central” campaign successfully collected 35 pints of blood on this day. These 35 pints of “fresh blood” will be used to potentially save up to 105 patients as just one pint can save up to three lives!
Donors were given a healthy snack and juice to fuel up after donating
Overall it was another great opportunity to help save lives and yet another community service offering at Bhagawan’s Lotus Feet!
Fiji National Blood Service Blood Bank Bus – the Heart of all the Heroic action by the Selfless Donors