Prembabu Sharma
HDFC Bank’s nationwide Blood Donation Drive on Friday, one of the biggest single-day campaigns ever, saw people turning up in droves to donate blood at 679 centres in 521 locations across the country. The Bank had tied up with Red Cross, major hospitals and blood banks across these locations for technical assistance.
The camps were run from 0900 hrs to 1700 hrs where a large number of people, including Bank executives and customers, donated blood. Many from top management were among the first donors on the day. In its fifth year, the campaign is part of the Bank’s overarching social agenda of making a difference to peoples’ lives by making meaningful contribution.
The Bank started this initiative in 2007 when over 4000 volunteers came forward for a national cause. Since then the camp has grown in size and stature. In the very first year, over 4000 units of blood were collected. Since then, the quantum of collection had jumped six-fold to touch over 25,500 units last year.
“Blood is precious, more so in our country which suffers from an acute demand-supply gap. As part of our endeavour to change peoples’ lives, we have been expanding our blood donation drive with more people, both from the Bank and outside, lining up to donate blood. We thank everyone who has come forward this time and hope to expand our footprint, number of donors and units of blood collected next year.”