The Cayman Islands Blood Bank is seeking more opportunities and partnerships that will spread awareness of the importance of blood donation and increase the number of registered donors to achieve its goal of 500 new donors by the end of 2017.

It is already on track towards this objective having hosted four blood drives that have attracted 167 newly registered donors since the start of the year. The blood drive venues include Taste of Cayman where 30 new donors were registered, Rotaract Health Fair with 47 registrants, Global Youth Day with 44 and Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa Staff Wellness Fair with 46. In total, approximately 60 new donors, including those who registered at the blood drives and walk-in donors, have donated since January.

The blood drive at the Global Youth Day, an event celebrated worldwide on 18 March and hosted locally by the Youth Ministries Department of the Cayman Islands Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs), was held at the Harry McCoy Park in Bodden Town and attracted over a hundred people. The Blood Bank became involved in the event after the Adventist community contacted its staff expressing a desire for them to attend and educate the youth and the wider community on blood donation and its significance.

Medical Technologist Greg Honeyghan, who spoke at the event, expressed that he wanted to inspire the attendees by giving them a scenario that illustrates why it is important for them to support the Blood Bank.

“Imagine a scenario in which you are involved in a motor vehicle accident and there was no blood at the Blood Bank to save your life. You would die. By imagining a scenario like this, you can see clearly, why it is important to donate and why there is always need for blood. We cannot manufacture blood, so it has to come from individuals like yourselves,” he said.

The SDA Youth Ministries Department thanked the Blood Bank for doing an amazing job collaborating on this successful community effort. It expressed that many of the youth were motivated to give the gift of life by Mr Honeyghan’s speech.

The Blood Bank’s most recent blood drive was held at the Kimpton Seafire’s Staff Wellness Fair on 19 April, 2017. This gave the resort’s staff the opportunity to become better informed about who is eligible to be a donor, how to become a donor, the benefits of donating and how they can raise awareness.

Judith Clarke, manager of the Blood Bank stated, “Thank you to the organizers of the SDA Global Youth Day and the Kimpton Seafire’s Staff Wellness Fair for involving the Cayman Blood Donor Service in your events. This was an opportunity to create awareness about the need for voluntary, non-remunerated blood. With an increased demand, we have set an ambitious target of 500 new donors for 2017. The 90 new donors recruited at these events will go a far way in meeting our target and these individuals will be spreading the word and encouraging others to help save a life. The residents of these islands have big hearts and will ensure the partnerships work to meet the target.”

The Blood Bank continues to seek similar opportunities and partnerships for future blood drives. It thanks its existing partners for their constant support and looks forward to working together on many more prospective initiatives.

To register to become a blood donor or volunteer to collaborate with the Blood Bank, please visit bloodbank.ky or call 244 2674.