NBAD’s Blood Drive Registers 37% Increase in Donations
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) 5th Annual Blood Drive and Thalassaemia Awareness 2009, held over two days in Abu Dhabi last week, has attracted higher levels of participation, with over 458 people registered to donate blood, a 37% increase over last year’s drive which saw participation of 335 donors.
Meanwhile, NBAD’s 1st Annual Blood Drive & Thalassemia Awareness 2009 in Al Ain, held in cooperation with Tawam Hospital in Affiliation of Johns Hopkins Medicine Regional Blood Center (RBC) on February 11th 2009, attracted 50 people registered for blood donation.
There was a significant increase in the number of donors from amongst NBAD employees, surrounding companies and members of the community proving that the NBAD annual blood drive has become a well established and recognised in the capital’s community diary.
As in previous years, the SKMC Abu Dhabi Blood Bank set up a fully staffed mobile blood clinic outside the bank. Additional tents were also set up to handle the high number of donors.
NBAD’s 5th Annual Blood Drive and Thalassaemia Awareness 2009 commenced with a performance by the Abu Dhabi Police Music Band which heightened the level of excitement and drew many spectators from the community.
“This year’s event has been outstanding,’ said Ms. Belinda Scott, NBAD’s CSR Officer. “Once again we are overwhelmed at the generosity of individuals who donated blood. They are responsible for making this event such a great success. Furthermore, we are extremely proud of the enthusiastic participation of our people; over 143 of NBAD’s employees registered and donated blood in Abu Dhabi’s event. We also had the support of the UAE Genetic Diseases Association who undertook Thalassaemia awareness and screening again this year. The number of people who donated blood in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain exceeded 500. These figures are phenomenal and exceeded our expectations” she added.
“We are extremely proud to work with both the Tawam Hospital in Affiliation of Johns Hopkins Medicine Regional Blood Center (RBC) and the Abu Dhabi Blood Bank. They are ultimate professionals undertaking important and valuable work. We are also proud that a number of the donors have participated every year. ,” said NBAD’s CSR Officer. “The generosity of all the donors and the volunteers makes such a difference to the success of the NBAD annual blood drives. It really is a coming-together of people from business and the community with the goal of achieving something worthwhile. ”
“NBAD’s corporate social responsibility community programme is aimed at meeting the needs of our stakeholders. By holding these annual events it gives us the opportunity to really engage with and make a significant contribution to the local community,” said Mr. Abdulla Mohammed Saleh Abdul Raheem, Senior General Manager and Group Chief Operating Officer.
“As part of our commitment to the UAE community, NBAD, we are continuing to embed corporate social responsibility into our day to day business. We believe that by actively engaging our stakeholders and helping to be more aware of the needs and concerns of the community, we are creating value for NBAD and the society” he added.
“We are pleased with our earlier achievements; however, at NBAD we are never ready to rest on our past accomplishments. We aim for continuous improvement and this year we expanded the reach of the blood drive by organisating the 1st annual event in Al Ain. We have attracted more donors than ever before, and we offered a platform for Thalassaemia awareness. The 5th Annual NBAD Blood Drive 2009 and Thalassaemia awareness and the 1st Annual event in Al Ain is where NBAD really contributed to society. It shows our full commitment to the well-being of our employees, our customers, our community and the future generations and well-being of both” he explained.
“We would like to thank our partners who helped in organizing the event especially FoodWorld Al Ain for donation of gift meal vouchers, MacDonald’s for donation of gift meal vouchers, Marks & Spencer for donation of gift vouchers, Zari Spa for donation of gift vouchers, Sony Jumbo Electronics, who provided equipment for use at the event, National Food Products Company for donation of mineral water and juice, Citi Pharmacy for donation of Seba Med products, Lipton/Unilever for providing beverages, Biterite for donation of dining vouchers and samples of products, Nestle for providing refreshments, Al Fajer Printing Press for printing prize draw vouchers and flyers, and Intermarkets for placement of advertisements in two newspapers, Beach Rotana, Crown Plaza, and Millenium Hotels in Abu Dhabi for donation of dining vouchers, Krispy Kreme- Abu Dhabi for discount on doughnuts, Photographers Murshed M.A AlMehairi and Wael M.H Srour for provision of free services, and Al Ain Diary for the supply of dairy drinks and juices”. Ms. Scott concluded.
