Your As, Bs and Os can help save lives

The SANBS plans to ‘steal’ a few letters from several companies’ names this week, all for an excellent cause.
In an innovative bid to attract new, young blood donors, the blood service is again taking part in the international Missing Type campaign, which started this past Monday and ends this Monday coming.
The campaign asks organisations to remove the letters A, B and O, symbolising the ‘missing’ blood types with the same letters, from their logos or names for a week. Since launching globally a few years ago, the initiative has notched up phenomenal success, spurring thousands of new blood donors to sign up worldwide.
The SANBS hopes this irreverent ‘disappearing act’ will similarly weave a special kind of magic in South Africa, where only 1% of South Africans give blood regularly.
“Imagine life without the letters A, B and O … let alone Scrabble!” said Silungile Mlambo, the SANBS’s chief marketing officer. “South African big business has the power to change the fact that our country faces constant blood shortages – and save lives at the same time.
“We’re asking local brands, sports teams, corporations and landmarks to tweak their logos and ‘donate’ their As, Bs and Os for just a week. Deleting the letters of the main blood groups from your company’s name in your adverts, email signatures and other marketing material is a fun and interactive way to raise awareness of South Africa’s urgent need for new blood donors,” she says.
Mlambo further said it really is critical for the SANBS to replenish blood stocks at this time of year, with the school holidays just around the corner. “This will inevitably cause a spike in the demand for blood transfusions,” she added.
Visit www.sanbs.org.za or call 0800 11 90 31 for more information or to find out where to volunteer as a blood donor. Join the #MissingType conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Story and photo: KAREN VENTER
>>karen@observer.co.za