More than 600 local students and young people on Sunday joined two separate events in central and southern Vietnam in a summer blood donation campaign to save lives.
On June 15, more than 100 youths took part in a volunteering blood donation fest called “Ket Noi Trai Tim – Ket Noi Su Song” (Connect Hearts – Connect Life).
The event, which is part of the summer campaign “Nhung Giot Mau Hong” (Pink Blood Drops), took place at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Social Work Center.
Many participants wore red shirts with a yellow star (the symbol of the national flag) and the words “I love Vietnam” to express their willingness to share their blood with those in need.
This move was also meant to show their patriotism and support for the country’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos in the context of China’s stationing of an oil rig in Vietnam’s waters since early last month.
Beijing has illegally put the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea since May 1 in spite of vehement opposition from Hanoi.
The fest collected over 110 units of blood. (1 unit = 250ml)
In a similar vein, nearly 500 students and youths on Sunday partook in another event held at Tay Nguyen Vocational School in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to donate their blood to needy patients.
The event, the second in the province this year, collected 212 units of blood when it was organized in Buon Ma Thuot City, the provincial capital.
One hundred exemplary blood donors representing thousands of their peers the country over were honored in a Saturday afternoon ceremony in Hanoi, which commemorated the World Blood Donor Day that falls on June 14 every year.
The donors, aged from 21 to 59, come from 63 cities and provinces.
Over 40 percent of them have donated blood for at least 20 times. Four of them have volunteered to give away their blood for 72 and 75 times.
So far this year 2,419 blood donation clubs have been formed across the country, gathering 109,568 members, up 53,900 compared to 2012.
Among them are 20 clubs that pool donors with rare blood types and 80 others that comprise families.
In 2013, up to 907,809 units of blood were collected, satisfying over 50 percent of the local blood demand for treatment and emergency cases.
In the past ten years, the nationwide campaign has amassed 6.4 million units of blood, which helped save numerous lives.
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Đăng ký: VietNam News