E&L employees are saving lives by donating blood
E&L Faster Food Imports Inc. conducted a blood-letting program in partnership with the Philippine Blood Center (PBC), a blood bank under the National Voluntary Blood Services Program (NVBSP) of the Department of Health (DOH) at the East LA office on August 6.
The company’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Committee and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Eat & Love program initiated the blood donation drive.
The CSR and OSH have teamed up with Dennis Dayao L. Ordoña, MD, Head of Philippine Blood Center, Ethel Sta. Maria, Donor Recruitment Agent – A.O II, was the primary contact person for the event. Flora Belle D. Lontok, RN, was the resource speaker on the webinar for the bloodletting day.
“As part of our good corporate citizenship, we want to give back to the community as much as possible. We took part in doing that by enabling a platform for our employees to save lives through the bloodletting program,” CSR and Engagement Specialist Bernice Santos said.
According to the OSH, around 47 employees were screened to see if they were compatible with drawing blood by checking their blood pressure, the number of platelets, and hemoglobin. Only 35 volunteers passed the medical check-up and donated blood for the blood-letting drive.
Each blood donor received a bear stuffed toy from the PBC as a token of appreciation. At the same time, E&L raffled some merchandise, including umbrellas, leather coasters, wall clocks, cord holders, bookmarks, card pouches, and certificates, to successful donors.
Meanwhile, OSH President Ella Paguiligan said that aside from the public, E&L employees can also be the primary beneficiaries of the blood donation drive.
“Our agreement with DOH-PBC says that our employees can request blood if they need it. They should fill up the form to access the donated blood, as the PBC has their own bloodletting and blood bank facilities,” Paguiligan said.
Paguiligan added that a total of 105 lives could be potentially saved with the 35 pints of blood collected last August 6, as a pint of blood can save up to three lives. Donated blood can be separated into three components to treat cancer, surgery, and trauma patients.
When asked if the bloodletting would happen anytime again soon, Santos replied that they are still crafting what the future of the company’s CSR will be. She said they want to ensure that they will be able to utilize all the company’s strengths to respond to the community’s needs in the future.
“As of now, E&L would like to do good in the community, and for us to be able to do that, we will be working on expanding more CSR initiatives with prospective partners who share the same goals aligned with ours,” Santos added.