The Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation (SAUF) and Aniruddha Samarpan Pathak (ASP) joined hands to organise a one-of-its-kind blood donation camp, where the blood donors who were rejected on medical grounds were asked to spin the charkha and weave cloth.
While speaking about the camp Sunil Mantri, chief executive officer, SAUF-ASP, says, “For the first time in the history of our organisations we have utilised the rejected blood donors of the camp. We provided them with charkhas, so that they can weave cloth which will later be used to make school uniforms for the under privileged children.
In this way even the donors who couldn’t donate blood were given a chance to contribute towards the society.”
The concept for such a camp originated when the teams of the two organisations saw that the rejected donors can also be part of the camp.
“The spindled threads will be used to make school uniforms for the under-privileged children staying near Virar, Vasai, Shahpur and Kolhapur. This concept was introduced to make everyone feel a part of the camp and contribute towards humanity,” explained Mantri.
Amit Katwankar, who was rejected from donating blood due to jaundice that he got two months ago, shares, “Spinning the charkha is quite simple. Even a common man can spin two spindles in less than two hours. The process to weave cloth and still be a part of the camp is also a lot less painful.”
About 5000 people from different walks of life gathered at IES School, Bandra (East) from 9am to 5pm to donate blood. Out of those, 3083 donors successfully donated blood while the others spun charkhas for the school children. Staff members of the 27 blood banks were present at the camp to assist the donors.
Dr Vikas Bade, chief coordinator of the camp, informs: “The blood donation campaign had started a decade ago. However, the utilisation of the rejected donors has been introduced from this year onwards.
The initiative is a way to extend support to humanitarian causes through such services. Our medical team also guides people towards a healthy diet and lifestyle, thus encouraging good health for a better tomorrow.”
Amitabh Gupta, additional commissioner of Police (west) who was one of the donors at the camp, says, “Such proactive steps for the betterment of the society can be called upon as devotional work.”
Gupta commended the medical staff, SAUF – ASP volunteers and donors positive response to the campaign, citing high turnout at the venue in a bid to meet the increasing demand of donated blood, especially the rare blood types.
--- Mumbai Mirror article On Monday, April 12, 2010.
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