Nagpur: Worried over the acute shortage of blood bags and the plight of thalassaemia and sickle cell patients, a group of businessmen, entrepreneurs, professionals and students has joined hands to hold a mega blood donation camp on January 10 in city.
Volunteers of the group working under two NGOs — Help for Good (HFG) and No Difference Foundation (NDF) — have been buoyed by the successful camps in their areas in the last couple of days.
Lawyer Disha Khandelwal, a member of HFG, said when they discussed the idea with some known people, they encouraged them to go ahead. “We held a small camp at Jaripatka. As per the need, it is not enough so we are going for a bigger one,” she said.
The groups has also been getting support for January 10 event from donors who volunteered in small camps. “They are now volunteering to mobilize more citizens for the New Year event. We are aiming to bring 1,500 donors during the drive and will decide the venue accordingly to follow Covid norms,” HFG founder Ashutosh Punyani (25) said.
NDF’s Himanshu Armarker (20) said they were pained to know the difficulties parents and patients were facing and decided to launch the big event. “We read that blood was in short supply at both public and private banks. Small camp won’t be adequate,” he said.
Being businessmen, Punyani and Armarker have reached out to trade associations and media houses. “We have asked for five volunteers each from all media houses, traders, insurance companies and agents. Our volunteers are also approaching people in their neighbourhood,” said Armarker.
Punyani said safety will be prioritized and they would distribute safety kits. The group has decided to distribute the collected blood equally among public and private banks.
BBA student Kunal Ahuja (18), who is leading the drive for NDF said, “I called up 20 people and they have shown willingness to donate blood.”