Meow CATS,
A bit late, but I surely could not skip giving you all the meow feedback from our 3rd Blood Donation Camp (converted into a drive!) held on Friday the 02nd of Aug'08, since most of you could not make it to the CATS camp due to previous engagements I guess.
The day started early for me at 8.50am when I was the only one to reach Rotary Blood Bank. After ensuring the CATS banner was hung in place and other arrangements were in order, I thought I might as well make use of the free time and took the honour of being the first donor of our 3rd camp. Till 10.15am, I was still the only CAT and the only donor! Just as it was getting embarrassing to wait for some generous Catty Soul to walk through the door and join me in what we all clearly believed was a noble cause, Rotary staff started asking me if I needed a lift to go home or should they call a cab for me! Just as could not get any worse, I called up CAT Paramjeet since he was supposed to join me at the Blood Bank by 9am, only to find out that his alarm failed to wake him up from his late night work and that he would not be able to reach the Blood Bank for another 15-20mins. Deary deary me.
Anyhow, just as I nearly chickened out and reached out for my car keys, CAT Vishal K walked in. Glad as I was to see another donor CAT, I could not help peeping through the door to see if any of his students were trooping in behind him. It was 10.30am and only 1 donor so far you see. Unfortunately, I was staring into an open space since new session at his Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management (CIHM) had started a couple of days ago and CAT Vishal had not had time to rope in the fresher batch for blood donation as yet. CIHM had given us 5 donors in our last camp, apart from the active participation of CAT Vishal, so we just kept our fingers crossed.
CAT Arti B walked in soon and asked to be taken in for donation promptly since she had to reach her office. Just when I thought I loved her to bits, walked in CAT Paramjeet, who somehow would not give blood but kept saying, 'Hang Fire.. tassali rakho.' We needed the donor counter to move and here I had a perfectly reliable donor but would not budge. As I was getting desperate, I saw a quite tall man sitting in the waiting area of the Blood Bank. Such was the desperation of getting the donors, I approached him purely on hunch since I had never met him before and asked if he had come to donate for CATS. Hallelujah, he said YES! CAT Sardana had come forward to join CATS for the first ever activity and he surely could not have chosen a better way of joining CATS.
CAT AP came to encourage the donors but they were conspicuous by their absence. Rtn Madhu Handa came to cheer us up. She kindly donated the blood as well as bringing in an employee from her clinic to donate with CATS. It was encouraging to hear that though she would always donate blood at six months interval in the past; however given the zeal of CATS to hold a camp every quarter, she had decided to donate every 3 months instead. We might have failed in encouraging our fellow CATS to come and give blood, but our noble efforts were certainly encouraging the non-CATS to come forward and donate blood to save some lives.
Did you know that every unit of blood that you give can save upto 4 lives? The only prerequisite to give blood is that you should be medically fit, over 45kgs of weight, and your Hb must be 12.5 or more. As easy as that.
Since mid day was approaching, situation was getting a little tense with only 3 donors on the list, I started sending texts prompting CATS to put their best foot forward on the way for a very noble cause. CAT Paramjeet also got busy to make calls to his friends and colleagues. CAT Ravinder P came with 2 colleagues, CAT Kapil and CAT Hemant came together. CAT Paramjeet's efforts started paying off and half a dozen colleagues from Bay Infocomm had walked in to donate till 2pm. The Bleeding Room had suddenly been taken over by the staff of Bay Infocomm. I asked CAT Hemant if he had donated blood in the past and he said, 'Yes, once when i was in college and you have taken my blood 3 times within this year in CATS!'
It was working you see. We were getting CATS to get into the habit of donating blood regularly, with immense pride. We had started this activity to make blood donation a way of life for CATS. It was happening, but at a much minuscule scale. CAT Navpreet donated blood at no.17 post 11am on a promise that he would get a samosa in refreshments. Unfortunately, samosas had not arrived yet and he had to make do with the sandwiches. CAT Vasu walked in soon as did the team of 4 from CAT Charanjeet's office. CAT Jasmit and CAT Jasmine came but our dear dulhan had to opt out, despite her best intentions. Soon Rotary Blood Bank staff laid out lunch for CATS and it gave us an opportunity to interact as well.
CAT Ashish A and CAT Maharaj came together. CAT Gopika came and yet again got rejected on account of low Hb. She however walked away determined to come back the fourth time in November and be able to donate blood. In her own words, 'One day, One day my name would be on your Donor's List Supreet!' This is the determination every CAT must possess. Disappointed, but undeterred by the rejection in each of the 3 camps, CAT Gopika was absolutely determined to donate blood the next time.
We were staring at a lull again and the count was only 26. I made a call to our feisty CAT Anu C, who had sent about a dozen colleagues from her company in our first camp. She agreed to speak with the boss, Mr Ajay Tewari (CEO) to see if he would approve of sending in employees from Smart Data Inc. (SDI) to lend a helping hand to CATS for the Heartline project. Fortunately for us, Mr Tewari agreed to CAT Anu C's request and before we knew, hordes of employees from SDI were walking through the doors to donate blood. This was enough to get me to jig in the blood bank!
Soon we ran out of refreshments at the blood bank and CAT Paramjeet rushed to fetch fresh samosas for the donors. The camaraderie between SDI employees and CATS was to be seen to be believed. Most of them wanted to stand paw-to-paw with CATS after 3 months to come and donate blood again. At the end of day 1, the donor count was 42 with promise from CAT Anu C that more donors would be sent from SDI the following day too.
For Day 2 of what had become the blood donation drive by now, our CAT Deepinder insisted that we the second day should be held at Fortis Blood Bank on Saturday 03rd of Aug'08. I reached Fortis at 9am with the CATS Banner which was promptly and efficiently put up with the assistance of CAT Deepinder. We were missing our Cool CAT Neerja miserably who's still recuperating from her fall from the stairs, but felt that we had to carry on the show till she joins us in our November camp. The donor count was once again not very encouraging with only 1 donor till 11am. CAT Paramjeet nearly filled the donor form in a day after donating at Rotary Blood Bank given how bad the situation looked. CAT Deepinder also insisted on donating the second time round within a week of his donating blood for his friend less than a week earlier.
Just when we thought all was lost with less than 10 donors till 1pm, I made yet another call to CAT Anu C to ask what the scenario was at SDI. Once again, she stood up to the need of the hour and sent in CAT Abhijit with 3 colleagues. CAT Abhijit was due to donate blood for a relative due to undergo surgery on 6th of August, that did not stop him from encouraging others to come and rise to donate blood for Heartline. It was amazing to see his network working to save the little lives. Before we knew, 9 donors more had walked into the Blood Bank from SDI. Despite one fainting session, once again the atmosphere in the Blood Bank was full of cheers. Since most of them had come in only because CAT Abhijit had called them, I thought it was only fair that they were given the information as to why and for whom they were donating blood. It was indeed heart warming to see most of them asking to be advised in advance when the next camp is to be held in November.
CAT Paramjeet in the meantime kept on working behind the scenes at Bay Infocomm., with the consent of his boss, Parampaul Madra (Director Operations). CAT Gurneet was the surprise donor of the day. With her stick thin frame we were always hesitant to ask for her blood but she flummoxed us all with her Hb count of 14.9!!
Overall, though we had more than our moments of anxiety and disappointment, I have to stand and salute the spirit of CATS for having donated a total of 68 units over a period of 3 days between Rotary Blood Bank and Fortis Blood Bank.
I am also extremely grateful to Mr Ajay Tewari from Smart Data Inc. for joining hands with CATS by sending in a total of 24 donors, which would in effect help 6-7 little children suffering from congenital heart diseases. Given their sheer penchance for service to the unknown, both CAT Anuradha Chawla and CAT Abhijit Shahi acted as impeccable Ambassadors of Corporate Social Responsibility endeavours of Smart Data Inc.
I would also like to take this opportunity and thank Mr Parampaul Madra from Bay Infocomm for having given his consent to send in 12 employees from the company to ease the discomfort of atleast 2-3 poor children undergoing heart surgeries which would instantly improve the quality of their lives. The diligent worker that CAT Paramjeet is, I must admit that people like him are few and far between. One may find many who excel in their careers to benefit themselves but there are few who would also spend time, effort and money in lending a helping hand to the needy.
I, on behalf of CATS, look forward to continuous support from both the companies in our future endeavours too. I would heartily welcome everyone from Smart Data Inc and Bay Infocomm to join CATS in any of our adventure related activities as well.
Last, but not the least, I congratulate you all for having worked diligently to ensure our 3rd blood donation camp is a thorough success with 68 units of blood being donated; the highest number of units ever donated in a CATS blood donation camp.
So have we raised the bar for ourselves CATS??
Would you rise to the next occasion to beat this new benchmark in November?
Fingers Crossed... in my fellow CATS I believe.
CAT Supreet
- 07th August'08
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