The World Blood Donor Day on 14th June is a special day to show appreciation to all voluntary non-remunerated blood donors and to raise awareness on the collection of safe blood supply as well as the importance of giving blood regularly. This year, the Health Sciences Authority and the Singapore Red Cross organized a Champion Blood Donor Recognition Ceremony and invited 37 blood mobile organizers who had made remarkable contributions towards the collection of safe blood supply. Tzu Chi Singapore was one of them.

Tzu Chi Singapore was invited to the WBDD's Champion Blood Donor Recognition Ceremony at the Singapore Zoo.

Tzu Chi Singapore was ranked fifth among the 37 Blood Mobile Organizers, achieving a total of 1035 units of blood during the quarterly blood donation drive in 2007. Minister of Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan commended on the foundation's remarkable achievement.

14th June is the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD).  This year, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) organized a Champion Blood Donor Recognition Ceremony to show appreciation to all voluntary non-remunerated blood donors and also to raise awareness on the collection of safe blood supply as well as the importance of giving blood regularly.  The ceremony, held at the Singapore Zoo under their sponsorship, saw about 1,500 regular blood donors and Blood Mobile organizers coming together for the celebration in the natural habitat of flora and fauna.  Among all, Tzu Chi Foundation (Singapore Branch) was also one of the invited guests to receive commendation. 

The WBDD was co-initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations, the International Society of Blood Transfusion and other global organizations.  It provides a special opportunity for a united global celebration on a day that has particular significance: the birthday of Nobel Prize winner, Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO blood group.  

Abdul Hadid, who had blood diseases since infancy, had to undergo monthly blood transfusion to continue living.  At the ceremony, he expressed sincerely on behalf of all blood recipients their utmost appreciation to the voluntary non-remunerated blood donors.  “I'm very grateful to all blood donors for their precious gift of life.  We do not know each other but your gift and altruism has given me the opportunity to live a proper life since birth, celebrating birthdays with my closed ones, and experience the life of a youth.....”

Mr. Tee Tua Ba, Singapore's Red Cross committee member delivered in his speech.   “With a strength of only about 60,000 regular blood donors out of 4 million population in Singapore, the group of silent warriors provide the foundation of a safe blood supply available to all patients requiring transfusion and also help to sustain the blood bank's reserve.  The global tagline for WBDD 2008 - “Giving Blood Regularly”, thus is to raise awareness on the collection of safe and adequate blood supply on a regular basis by encouraging more people to donate blood regularly. If every regular blood donor were to influence another to donate blood or if they were to donate one more time, the blood reserves would see an increase of 10 percent.  There will not be a situation where public appeal has to be made when the blood reserves run low.” 

 Gold Award for Tzu Chi Foundation

Among the 37 Blood Mobile Organizers, Tzu Chi Singapore was ranked fifth, achieving a total of 1035 units of blood during the quarterly mobile blood donation drive in 2007.  All 37 organizers had each raised more than 500 units for the Blood Bank in 2007 and at each donation drive, they also collected more than 150 units. 

Tzu Chi Singapore, represented by medical volunteer Chen Wenzhong, received the Gold Award from the Guest-of-Honour Minister of Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan.  Brother Chen said that Tzu Chi Singapore has been receiving commendation and recognition from the organizing committees since 2003, when Tzu Chi Singapore started the mobile blood donation. In 2007, the four Tzu Chi blood donation drives collected 1035 units of blood, which was an increase of 62.9 percent as compared to 635 units collected in 2006. 

The achievement was not mere luck but could be attributed to the Tzu Chi's 4-in-1 volunteer structure, which has a primary objective to blend into the community to promote Tzu Chi missions and activities and to recruit more volunteers from there. On September 2007, apart from holding the regular drive at its Pasir Ris chapter house, Tzu Chi Singapore took a bold step forward, collaborating with the Jurong Medical Centre (JMC) in organizing a mobile blood donation drive in its centre,.  This bold move went on to become the main drive for the increase in the blood supply collection in 2007. 

In the WBDD report, it was mentioned that until 2002, only 39 countries achieved 100 percent of blood collection from voluntary non-remunerated donors.  It is indeed difficult to appeal for donors especially in developed countries, where everything is about being convenient; convenient location and time are the two important factors for the recruitment of regular blood donors. With that in mind, Tzu Chi's quarterly blood donation drive at JMC and Pasir Ris provide the public all the conveniences to donate blood. Today, it has cultivated a regular pool of blood donors. Besides raising the percentage of blood donors, more importantly, it has dispelled the many myths about blood donation that members of the public used to hold.

Once, a man posed a question to Master Cheng Yen, the founder of Tzu Chi Foundation, “Is donating our blood a merit that portrays filial piety?”

The Master replied, “The blood that flows in our body, every drop of it is given by our parents, donating blood to save life is as good as repaying our parents' kindness. By giving away what our parents have given us to save another life, isn't that sacred? Isn't this our parents' merits? “

A gift of life prolongs another. To a regular blood donor, it may be insignificant. However, when the gift of life nourishes the body of a weak man or a stranger without any relationships with the donor, this gift has resurrected. 

A new life begins at the point when we rolled up our sleeves.  Have you share your gift of life?