On September 29 and 30 we held a mobile blood drive with a donation bus in front of the west entrance of Palaceside Building. Over two days, 111 people came and 95 donated (88 at 400 ml, 7 at 200 ml). Thank you very much for your support.
Recent results at the building (registrations / donations): September 9, 2013 — 63 / 54; April 4 and 7, 2014 — 94 / 81 over two days; September 8, 2014 — 47 / 38; February 3, 2015 — 72 / 54. This time we aimed for 100 registrations over two days; we passed that mark and donors nearly reached three figures. Held in April 2014 when cherry blossoms were in full bloom and many people passed through Ken Gate of the Imperial Palace, this drive clearly beat that record — a “new record,” you could say.
With more disasters in recent years and rising awareness of corporate social responsibility, many individuals and companies are actively supporting blood donation. The Mainichi Newspapers sent an all-staff email from HR about the drive to employees at Palaceside Building, and MS&AD Systems Co., Ltd. had its general-affairs team notify staff by email. Many other tenants may have done the same without our knowing. (If your company took such steps, please tell the building management.)
With everyone’s help, we hope chronic blood shortages will ease even a little. Those who could not donate this time — please consider it next time if you can.
For the first time we also set up a consultation and registration desk for bone-marrow donors. Over two days, 12 people came; seven registered. That may seem a bit low compared with blood donors. Registrations are automatically removed when a donor turns 55, so without new sign-ups the pool shrinks — especially among younger people.
We will work harder to promote donor registration in future drives.