Several artistes and movie stars became the centre of attraction during this year’s edition of the Despite Group and Special Ice Company blood donation exercise held last Saturday, July 1 at the Ghana Police Training School in Accra.
The donation exercise attracted stars like Akrobeto, Dabo, Ras Nene, Joyce Blessing, Patience Nyarko, Keche, Akatakyie and other popular faces. It was under the theme ‘Donate Blood and Save Lives’.
To keep the large crowd of donors entertained whilst they waited for their turn to be attended to, the Ghana Police Band, together with some gospel and hip-life artistes, performed at the event to entertain the donors.
This year’s blood donation exercise which was organised by the Despite Group, in collaboration with Special Ice Company, saw over 7,000 donors donating blood and undergoing breast cancer screening, prostate examination, blood pressure test, among others.
The turnout was historic, as prospective blood donors had to be begged to return home because more donors had turned up than the organisers could accommodate.
At the end of the day, the organisers were able to collect a total of 1,637 pints of blood – a massive improvement on last year’s exercise.
The exercise, according to the organisers, formed part of the two companies’ (Despite Group and Special Ice) social responsibilities to help fill and restock the National Blood Bank with enough blood to help save lives of those in need of blood at the various hospitals across the country.
The management of Despite Group mentioned that the blood donation exercise has become part of their programmes, and expressed its satisfaction with the way Ghanaians have come to accept it as one of its annual events.
They underscored that the exercise will be extended to other districts in the country.
By George Clifford Owusu