Church of God host blood drive

A local church has partnered up with blood services to collect and promote blood donations during the festive season.

As the year comes to an end the number of donated blood falls as well. This pushed the Church of God in Melville to partner with the South African Blood Services (SANBS) to collect and promote the spirit of blood donations.

Resego Matlakala of the church said, “SANBS collects 3 000 units of blood per day on average, however during the festive season, they do not even reach 1 000 units per day. This highlights the importance of donating blood during this festive period.”

This initiative ultimately coincided with the churches 953rd Worldwide Blood Drive which was hosted on 4 November this year. Throughout the day church members entertained passers-by and SANBS staff along with other guests with song and dance and made the whole initiative very exciting and uplifting. Ward 69 Councillor Genevieve Sherman was also present at the event and gave her endorsement of the initiative with words of support.

According to Matlakala, the blood drive was hosted as an awareness-raising initiative. “In our African society blood donation is taboo and not many are keen on the idea of donating blood.”

The church hopes that their efforts go a long way in removing personal, social, cultural, prejudice about blood donation and to raise awareness on saving lives.

RELATED ARTICLE: Brixton Police launch Divine Intervention initiative