June is National Blood Donor Month so we thought we would share how you can set up a donation drive within your community.
South Africa (03 June 2021) – The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) is always in need of new donors so each year, we celebrate National Blood Donor Month in June to help boost donors in the country.
SANBS aims to collect an average of 3000 units of blood every day nationally. It is through planned, sustainable blood drives at companies, organisations and institutions that they are able to achieve this collection target.
SANBS facilitates the option for people to host their own blood drives whether as a community service, for a specific cause or in honour of someone. The organisation sends the full set-up to a blood donation drive, from nurses and staff to branding, the equipment and sometimes even small gifts for donors.
“At present, only one in every approximate 140 people are blood donors. This means the nation is almost always close to running out of blood stocks, placing thousands of lives at risk every single day. If you know of communities, corporates, schools, colleges, churches, residential complexes where the South African National Blood Service can get new blood donors. Please help us by completing the form here.” – SANBS
To register a blood donor drive, you can fill in a form online. All you need to do is provide some estimates of dates and how many people you expect to host, as well as the location of the drive and the purpose. Someone form SANBS will reach out to assist in the planning.
You can register your blood drive here. Be sure to do so soonest so you don’t miss out.
What are the benefits of hosting a blood drive?
- Blood drives gives donors the opportunity to become involved in making a difference to others in a convenient way.
- SANBS offers education for your staff on safe lifestyles and requirements to qualify to be a blood donor. An added benefit for your organisation is that the Donor Educator covers important information such as sexually transmitted diseases.
- Blood drives are used by many companies as a Corporate Social Investment activity to show that they are actively involved in impacting on the lives of South Africans.
- Each blood donation contributes significantly to the country’s health care system.
- Blood drives can be used as team building exercises where departments or branches compete to see who donates the most blood, which could ultimately boost staff morale.
Things to consider when hosting a blood drive
- A target goal (number of donors) and a plan to meet that goal.
- A suitable and accessible venue.
- Time to meet with your SANBS Public Relations Practitioner (PRP) to evaluate the blood drive and discuss scheduling future drives, challenges and/or suggestions.
You can find out more about setting up your blood drive here.