51 donors make a huge difference to blood stock
International WeLoveU Foundation hosted its global One-Two Blood Drive in the hopes of stabilising blood supply.
According to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), it needs over 3 500 daily donors.
Because of the new variant of coronavirus, it is difficult for blood to be supplied to the SANBS and as such, it is looking for blood drives to be hosted.
In light of this the International WeLoveU Foundation, an NGO associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications, hosted its global One-Two Blood Drive in the hopes of stabilising blood supply.
On September 5, 70 volunteers from the foundation gathered at Eastgate Shopping Centre to participate in the blood drive.
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After volunteers were medically examined and assessed, 51 people successfully donated 22,950ml of blood.
SANBS regularly sanitised equipment during the drive and guided those who had symptoms such as coughing or fever to donate on another day, creating a safe environment for all.
The donor relations practitioner of SANBS, Sini Subraye, thanked all the volunteers.
“From the SANBS, we say thank you for this beautiful initiative,” he said.
“I want to thank the International WeLoveU Foundation for the work that they are doing to encourage people to donate,” said the chief director from the Gauteng Department of Health, Dr Sipho Senabe.
“We are very thankful to partner with such a vibrant group.”
A member of the office of the MEC, Bongani Makhubu, said, “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle, so we lose nothing by sharing our blood with our neighbours.”
Musa Mokhobole, a member of the foundation, said he felt like a hero just by donating blood.
Another member of the foundation, Mokhalaka Moteetee, said donating blood is more than putting a needle in your vein.
“It’s about culminating a mindset of loving our neighbours. This is an opportunity to show that we are a community that loves one another by donating blood,” said Mokhalaka.
The worldwide drive was also carried out in Cape Town on the same day and in Durban on September 8.
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