SPH's second blood donation drive of 2014 collects 161 units of blood

SINGAPORE - The SPH Red Apple Day, a biannual blood donation drive jointly organised by Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) and Singapore Red Cross, saw 161 units of blood collected from 225 donors at the SPH News Centre Auditorium today.

The first hour of the event was open only to SPH staff. Members of the public were allowed to donate thereafter, from 12 noon to 5pm.

SPH Red Apple Day was first organised as an annual event in 2001. It was made a biannual drive in 2011 to help increase blood donations during festive periods when it usually dips.

The event is typically held at the start of the year before Chinese New Year, and in the middle of the year, before National Day. The previous SPH Red Apple Day held earlier this year, on 21 January, collected 120 units of blood from 170 donors.

The August instalment of the blood donation drive is supported by Beatty Secondary School, where more than 30 school teachers, students and their parents volunteered and provided assistance to ensure the smooth flow of operations at various stations like form-filling, registration and consultation.

The next SPH Red Apple Day will be held on 12 February 2015.

Mr Alan Chan, Chief Executive Officer of SPH, said:"We have noticed that the blood bank typically runs low during festive periods. SPH made a conscious effort to organise the blood donation drive every six months, especially before major festivities, to help maintain the supply of blood as much as possible. Over the years, I am pleased to see regular donors doing their part to save lives."

The event's media partners are SPH MediaBoxOffice, SPH Digital's AsiaOne and SPH Radio's HOT FM91.3, Kiss92 and UFM100.3, and sponsors are Benelux, Cerebos, Gardenia, Nestle and Spatone.