Our first blood drive turned out better than we could have imagined!
Even during this time of crisis, so many incredible people decided to come out and make blood donation a priority. We are grateful to each of the 65 people who came out to donate blood including several doctors, social workers, and other volunteers who also donated, along with some of our family members. We appreciate each one who took the time to come out for the blood drive as a volunteer and also as a blood donor!
We want to especially acknowledge the hard work of the Red Cross staff and nurses who brought their knowledge and skill to provide screening of donors, testing and processing of the donated blood, and the medical supplies; Kwality Banquet provided the venue; Fruit Agro provided fruit for the event; 3 doctors from Civil Hospital – Dr. Krishna Hamal, Dr. Karun Shrestha, and Dr. Rachana Upreti – volunteered at the event and donated blood; Rajendra Shrestha, the president and Bikram Shrestha, the coordinator with Chisapani Public Welfare Society, as well as Harimaya Shrestha from the Leonardo Edward Shrestha Foundation, coordinated over the last two months and sucessfully executed this blood drive. Their efforts along with all the volunteers and donors will make a difference in the lives of patients at this especially important time.
Blood donation is always an important gift people can provide to patients, and especially in a time of crisis like we are experiencing now in areas around the globe. It is even more important during a time like this to provide blood for our children with cancer because blood is in even shorter supply. As our understanding of the situation with the virus develops, we will plan to hold more blood drives in the Kathmandu valley in order to keep supplies up and keep awareness of the critical need for ongoing blood donations at the forefront of the community’s minds.
