Volunteers step up to donate blood for Lantern Festival
Print Edition
MANY Chinese and foreigners living in Shanghai celebrated the Lantern Festival in a special way yesterday — by rolling up their sleeves and donating blood.
During the special day, City News Service teamed up with the Shanghai Blood Center and Bloodline, a non-governmental organization, to organize a blood donation event. There is a shortage of supply due to the Spring Festival break and cold weather.
Flowers, rabbit lanterns and pastry sets were given as gifts to each blood donor. Some volunteers were dressed as Star Wars warriors.
Residents from Biyun and Gubei communities and students from Shanghai, Tongji and Fudan universities actively participated, with many foreigner donors giving blood for the first time.
Inliang Budsayamat, from Thailand, said she had been in China for 11 years, and it is now her second home.
“I am happy to help others by donating blood,” she said. “It is my first time to donate blood. Though I am a little nervous, the whole process is very smooth.”
Chan Pei Lin, from Malaysia, was also a first-time donor. She only arrived in Shanghai to study in September last year.
“After seeing the information of the event via WeChat, I decided to come. I was nervous because I was not familiar with the donation process. After completing the donation, it was not so difficult as I had thought.”
Frequent blood donors also took part.
Hu Dongchan is a regular donor of full blood and platelet. She has also registered to become a stem cell donor.
“I left my phone number to express my willingness of becoming a regular donor during my first blood donation,” she said. “I received a call from the blood center days ago, saying there is a shortage of type AB blood. So I came here today to give donation.”
Tiziana Richiardi, from Italy, said it was her third time donating blood in Shanghai.
“It is an amazing initiative by all the organizations to help support the community. I think donating blood is giving a part of yourself to someone else who needs it,” she said.
The event received much support from Bloodline and Marriott International.
Jurrien Bongers, general manager of Sheraton Shanghai Grand Pudong Hotel & Residences, and his colleagues delivered pastry sets to the site. He said blood donation is an action of giving back humanity to the community.
He pledge to participate and organize more such events in the future to serve the community.
Ashish Maskay, a surgeon from Nepal and founder of Bloodline, said all the donors are “angels.”
“I strongly recommend if you have that humanity view and if you love Shanghai, come by and help the city, help the community and be that happy rabbit for a family that really needs blood.”
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