Photo Gallery - CATS 5th Blood Donation Camp

The morning of 27th of February, 2009.

9am and we were all set with our refreshments, along with herbal medicinal plants as gifts for all the donor CATS at the Rotary Blood Bank and Resource Centre.

Sixty herbal medicinal plants were very kindly donated to us by Mr Ishwar Singh, (Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden of Chandigarh). We had plants to take care of common and chronic ailments like coughs/colds, Asthma, to Aloe, Henna, diabeties control to increasing immunity.

CATS were also given an additional special gift by Liza of 'Ek Chhoti Si Asha'. Liza gets hold of beggers from the streets and markets of Chandigarh and brings them to her centre in Sec.15. Here she teaches them to make goods like cloth/jute bags, pen holders, file covers, pouches, shopping bags etc. Liza kindly gave me her hand made pen holders as a gesture of gratitude towards all the donor CATS who come forward every 3 months to donate blood - the most noble of all causes.

Thank you 'Ek Chhoti Si Asha'

I was extremely disappointed to be rejected on grounds of low Hb for the second quarter in a row. Additionally, though we were all prepared to be inundated with the donors, as had happened in our previous in November, time was ticking away but no one had turned up.

CAT Devinder finally came at 11.15am to give us the first donor of the day.

Our Dulhan CAT Jasmine came on the day her friend was to get married, just to help me organise the whole day. She had dragged along a good friend, who was also unfortunately rejected on health grounds, along with CAT Jasmine.

CAT Kapil came around noon, followed by another young Sardar Ji who had come with his mother, but whom none of us knew. In the refreshment room I asked him if he knew about CATS, to which he quickly responded, 'I dont know about others, but I am a CAT!'

That waas enough to win our hearts.. Welcome aboard CAT Harpreet :)

CAT Harpreet and his mother liked the handmade pen holder so much that immediately he pulled out a note and asked me to give it to 'Chhoti Se Asha'. Seeing his gesture, others followed suit.

Soon after our regular CATS started coming in singles and twos. CAT Navpreet, CAT Ashish A, CAT Kapil donated blood for the **5th time in a row with CATS.

**(READ donated blood every 3 months in a row)

THREE CHEERS TO THEM - Meow Meow Meow :-)

CAT Paramjeet started making frantic calls to friends and colleagues which brought in a trickle of paws through the door. It was getting way past 1pm and we had not even touched the double digit mark. It was very disheartening indeed.


CAT Paramjeet even drove 10miles to go and fetch CAT Gurneet from home... Anything for a good cause you see.. CATS are very resourceful :)

CAT Gurneet happened to be our second feline to donate blood, after CAT Madhvi came before going to her office a little while earlier.

The pen holders were being appreciated by everyone in the meantime. Donors had a tough time choosing the medicianal herbal plants from about a dozen varieties we had brought in.


If disappointment was writ large on our faces, there were a few pleasant surprises too. Since our regular donor CAT Anu A was rejected on medical grounds, she sent in her friend Capt Brij Pal to donate instead. A friend of Liza and a 'once' CAT turned organic farmer, Gaurav trooped in to donate blood too. Infact, so huge was the change in his appearance that he had to re-introduce himself! Gaurav stayed put to help me out after CAT Jasmine left around 2pm.

Gaurav has also offered to organise a bon fire night at his farm for the CATS. He's planning to bring in bullock carts to transport CATS from the mainroad to his farm! Add fresh, soup/sandwiches, guided tour of the farm, opportunity to cook food in the community style kitchen. Gaurav may be a farmer, but he sure has great ideas :)

Between 2pm-3pm some regular donors from Smart Data Inc. (SDI) walked in to bring some cheer along.

Thank you CAT Anu C, CAT Abhijit and their CEO Mr Tewari for keeping up with your kind gesture with tenacity.

I could not finish off the day without thanking Mr Madra of Bay Infocomm as well, who sent half a dozen donors along for our camp, most of them regulars with us now.

The donation pen holder of 'Chhoti si Asha' was full of notes. There was a note of every denomination, including the coins. CATS donated a sum total of Rs.1000/- to 'Chhoti si Asha' with their 'Chhoti se Koshish' by the end of the day. A thunderous applause also goes to Mr Ishwar Sigh for giving us 60 medicinal herbal plants. Each of the remaining plants was duly distributed after the camp.

Around 3pm CAT Ashish A got lunch for 5 of us from his home. His mother sent a delicious lunch for the hungry and somewhat disappointed CATS of the day. We finished the day with the count of 23. We walked away feeling really low, but determined to make it a better show next time.

Hum honge kaamyaab.....

- CAT Supreet
(27th Feb'09)