What will your good deed be today?
Written in 2005. Versions, commands and links may well be out of date.
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is the statutory body of the Irish State that is charged with all aspects of the collection, processing and distribution of blood supplies and related products. Unlike some other countries, all blood donated in Ireland is purely voluntary with the only reward being a sense of altruism.
Last Friday they made a special request as the national blood stock was low and all elective surgeries throughout the country had to be cancelled. The response from the public was immense and stocks are quickly returning to normal.
They still need more - this week and every week. If you are looking to tick off your good deed for today then consider dropping into a local donation clinic.
I gave my eleventh donation in just under four years yesterday. And I won’t lie to you. It’s not fun. But it’s also not torture. The best description would be “not pleasent”. And the feeling of having done something good for nothing cannot be bought. If you hate needles as much as I do then you’d be allowed tick off a full week’s worth of good deeds!
In the words of the IBTS’s Thank You card:
A blood donation costs nothing but gives much, it enriches those who receive without making poor those who give.
It happens in a flash but the memory of that gift will last forever.
None is so rich and mighty that it can get along without it and none is so poor that it cannot be made rich by it.
It cannot be bought, begged borrowed or stolen for a blood donation is of no earthly good to anyone until it is given away.
1 out of every 4 of us reading this will need a blood transfusion at some point in our lives. It could be you.