The 958th Worldwide Blood Drive to Give Life Through The Love of the Passover

According to the Department of Statistics Singapore, only about 1.84% of the Singapore population donated blood in the year of 2018. Among this figure, 25% of this proportion are youth individuals. It has been estimated that 118,750 units of blood would be needed this year, which means 14 units of blood are needed every hour¹. With the desire to mitigate the shortage of blood supplies, the World Mission Society Church of God Singapore (SGWMSCOG) held a blood donation drive on 24 March 2019.

The “958th Worldwide Blood Drive to Give Life Through The Love of the Passover” was held to share the love of God who laid down His life for the salvation of humankind. Christ established the New Covenant Passover through His flesh and blood with the desire to bestow the blessings of eternal life upon mankind (Matthew 26:17-19, 26-28; John 6:53-54). Ruminating on the teaching of God that it is more blessed to give love than to receive, about 200 volunteers participated in this blood drive held at Health Sciences Authority Singapore (HSA). Majority of the participants were youths who earnestly wanted to alleviate the pains of those who suffer consequences of the lack in blood supplies.

Saving the Earth from ‘A’ to ‘Z’

Spearheading this act of volunteerism was the organisation ASEZ of the WMSCOG. ASEZ stands for Saving the Earth from ‘A’ to ‘Z’. It is a group of university student volunteers from all around the world who carry out the SAVE movement in 175 countries, that is Social service, Awareness raising, Victim relief and Environmental protection. There was a short presentation by the president of ASEZ Singapore who explained the proposal of implementing and participating in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the hope of improving the sustainability levels of each nation in the global village. With the heart of Mother, ASEZ seeks to take the lead in delivering Her love to our neighbours who are suffering from the array of disasters.

There was also a short skit presented by ASEZ members in the form of a trivia trove regarding blood donation. Unknown to many, individuals with ‘O’ negative blood type are universal blood donors as their blood can be used in transfusions for recipients of any blood type. As such, type ‘O’ blood is routinely short in supply and high in demand in hospitals. On the other hand, individuals with ‘AB’ positive blood type are universal recipients who can receive blood from donors of any blood type (‘A’, ‘B’, ‘AB’, or ‘O’).

Guest of Honour

Gracing the event was the Managing Partner of Ernst and Young (ASEAN and Singapore), Mr Max Loh. Mr Loh who is also a board member of the HSA, raised the concern that in Singapore which has an ageing population, more advanced life saving medical procedures and new hospitals would require a greater supply of blood. He was also encouraged by the large number of young people amongst the crowd and commended them for their sense of responsibility. Mr Loh expressed his personal gratitude by specially thanking the members of the SGWMSCOG who took time to participate in this meaningful act of volunteerism.

I see a lot of young faces in the crowd… I find it particularly encouraging to see a large number of young people, young working adults, university students amongst the crowd today. This can only mean great things about the sense of responsibility and the values of volunteerism and compassion that our young generation have.

To dedicate your worldwide network of over 8000 branches in 175 countries to this important cause of blood donation for a whole month, now, that is truly remarkable.

– Mr. Max Loh, Managing Partner of Ernst and Young (ASEAN and Singapore)