About 100 Pints of Blood Donated as Hamstrings Club and Partners Organise Blood Drive in Alexander Brown Hall

Hamstrings Club, in collaboration with Smile Builders Initiative, Asido Campus Network UI, Red Cross UCH Detachment, Rotaract Club of UCH, and Junior Chamber International Nigeria, UCH, held another season of her Lend An Arm program on Saturday, 21st of October, 2023. The event which was held at Alexander Brown Hall, started around 9 AM and saw Brownites and non-Brownites come out in their numbers to donate a pint of blood each at the Chess Jungle spot in the hall.

The event, now in its 6th season, is an avenue to employ philanthropic measures to address the shortage of blood in hospitals by encouraging voluntary donations and providing incentives. Health personnel from the University College Hospital Blood Bank were present to handle the donation process. Speaking with the Hamstrings Chancellor, Rachel Dada, on the motive behind the event, she shared that it was a way for the organization to put their motto, “progress through humanity” into action by bringing the blood drive closer to the donors rather than have the donors go down to the blood donation centers. “It has been nice seeing Brownites come out to donate and I’ll say the cutest thing was the twin brothers that donated. It was really nice seeing one brother came to donate and when the other brother came, we thought it was the same person. Outside of that, the major thing that really stood out for me is the fact that Brownites come around regardless of how often blood drives are held here. It’s encouraging” she said when asked about her impression about the event. The event also saw the Sub-dean Clinical Sciences of the College of Medicine and a past Chancellor of Hamstrings Club (1999/2000), Dr Gbolahan Obajimi, come around to donate blood. 

Participants also had things to say as a number felt a personal connection to the activity. For Abolaji Oluwadara who was a first-time donor, the event helped her face her fears about blood donation. “I’ve always had the fear that what if I fainted after donating? This time around, I had to fight that fear because people need this (blood) and lives are at stake while I have an abundance in my body that will die off after 3 months”. She expressed happiness when asked about her successful first donation because she felt she had covered a major milestone in her lifestyle.

Looking beyond the successful blood drive into what the future looks like, Rachel Dada expressed optimism and the expectation of development through innovation in the way blood drives are being organized. “We’ve had members of the club such as Elder Abioro and Elder Fawaz go on to establish Lend An Arm Corporation, and they have been useful in sending blood to places where they are needed. So I just see a lot of that springing up from people here, and perhaps in the future, you just make a call and someone comes to take your blood if you are interested in donating” she added.