Photo Gallery: CATS 08th Blood Donation Camp (Launch of CAN and WILL Foundation)

The day had begun early for me. 4am to be precise!

I might have organised 64 treks/events for CATS in 3years, but I still get

the same butterflies each time! Would everything be OK? Do I have enough

CATS donor gifts on me? Would I run out of food? Who would take charge of

the Refreshments Room? Who will attend to the donors in the bleeding room?

Would I clear my medical to be able to give blood myself!

Especially for the blood donation camps, there is always the BIG ONE.. would the donors actually come!!!!

After helping CAT Mona to get the sandwiches ready for the Birthday Fare

for the day, ensuring fruit bags, drink cartons, sandwich trays, cookie boxes

and ofcourse, the all important DONOR key rings were loaded into the car.

I had barely sat down when I got a call from an anonymous number.

It was a very old CAT Mukesh who had recently come back to the city

after being posted out for 2years. These were his exact words,

'Supreet, hum dono ne yeh faisla kiya hai ke aaj hum dono khoon denge,

zindagi mein pehli baar.' I was overwhelmed.

This CATS couple had demonstrated beyond doubt, it is never too late to begin.

I felt overwhelmed and relieved at the same time.

Was it my Maker telling me, 'All izzzz well?'

9am this CAT on the run made a pit stop at the baker to pick up the

cake and vegetable rolls. As I drove slowly towards the Blood Bank with my

precious cargo spread all over the car, I was greeted at the gate itself by

Anurag (CFC) who helped me transport some birthday fare eatables from the car to the bank.

However, we had a pleasant surprise to be greeted by CAT Chat in the foyer

who was holding the fort, wearing his CATS cap with such pride, complete with

another chocolate cake for CATS birthday.

Do I have words to describe how I felt at that point??

Please meet CAT Mukesh and lovely wife CAT Kusum.

He had requested to be the first ones to donate, and they were indeed.

The one above has his own designs I guess :)

They did not just come themselves, but brought along a friend also who donated

for the first time too. CAT Mukesh, I feel humbled indeed by so much goodness that is around us.

and meet the shock of the day, CAT Anuradha CLEARED HER MEDICAL in 8th attempt ;-)

YES... she donated blood.. the fiesty CAT who has been instrumental in

getting so many of her colleagues to donate blood, finally managed to do it herself.

THREE MEOWS to CAT Anu C

CAT Chat duly dispensing off his duty ensuring all the donors were given

their set of gift, certificate, donor card and the coveted CATS key ring :)

The much talked about.. much awaited.. in it's new avtaar...

a 'CAT on the run' for CATS 3rd birthday... YUMMY :P

Surrounded by all first time donors, Our Graceful CAT Chat doing the

honours of cutting the cake at 10.15am so that all of us could get our paws on it for our lick of the cream :P

and now a little about about the grub so lovingly organised by CAN & WILL

for the CATS 3rd birthday. Along with the cake, CAT Mona as you know had already

prepared sandwiches, as had CAT Gopika who prepared another variety of

lip smacking sandwiches for everyone. We also had three varieties of fruit to

maintain the energy levels after donation.

There were also some two types of yumm stuffed vegetable rolls to fill the rumbling bellies...

CAT Gopika had also prepared a highly nutritional salad for the hungry and

bleeding CATS which we really had to ration out as everyone just pounced upon it :P

and then for some instant energy there was a cookie platter with almond, cashew and butter cookies :P

all you have to add now is a refrigerator full of flavoured milk, masala lassi, nimbu pani and juices.

We had enough food... but would we have enough donors walking through those doors?

It seemed we were making a good start... new faces had walked in already along with some seasoned ones :)

Aaah.. our HUSTLER donor :D

CAT Kanwarjeet who's 2.5yrs old son Kabir made records of sorts by trekking 6.5kms

including a hillock in our very first trek on 02nd Sept'07.

This little kid walked all the way and when we reached the log hut for breakfast,

he turned around and said to his mum, 'Thakk Gayi' ;-)

It was good to meet you CAT Kanwarjeet.. and let's discuss Leh over a cuppa :)

There was enough happening to keep the Blood Bank Staff on full alert..

Remember this pretty girl?

She had donated for the first time in our last camp... and here she's again :)

CAT Vishal, regular as clock work when it comes to blood donation...

Your certificates are lying with me Vishal which I will have delivered across to your college tomorrow :)

ur STAR Donor CAT Devinder S chose his favourite seat to donate blood

when our cheer brigade led by the President of Rotary Club Chandigarh, Rtn. Arvind Mahajan

arrived to greet the donors. Rtn. Hassan Mejie was also dressed for the occasion.

Another pleasant surprise of the day was Naveen from Team CFC who was promptly handed over the camera as he walked in ;-)

Who says females can not donate every three months or do not come forward to donate blood?

It was around 11am and the male/female ration of donors was practically 50:50

Shabaash meri sher billiyo :)

Rtn. Neena also came to inspire the donors to rise above their selves and reach out....

Our young role models in the making mulling over their first ever blood donation in the Refreshment Room.

The gentleman whom you see on the table is a first time donor also.

What prompted him to donate blood is that his elderly father was recently in hospital and

needed 4 units of platlets. When he faced problems in getting only 4 friend/relatives to

step out and donate blood, that is when he realised the importance of blood donation.

He gave us his details and wants us to keep him posted about each of the future camps :)

The Bleeding Room was brimming over with the donors.. MEOW :)

Rtn. Jetinder Kapoor came with Rtn. KK Gupta, who lovingly brought along

a box of macroons for the CATS to say, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'

A BIG THANK YOU to our Rotary Family for being so thoughtful :)

Jagbandhu, who comes only and only for blood donation camps had wrote

a beautiful piece encouraging everyone to be part of the blood donation drive.

THANK YOU and I think you will be our STAR DONOR in the next camp Jagbandhu :)

Time was ticking on.. and the donors were trickling in also.. we were on a roll :)

CAT Parmjeet had been given the charge of the camera by now and donor records

were being updated jointly by CAT Navpreet, CAT Hemant and when they left,

CAT Paramjeet was handed over the dual charge ;-)

Our Man Friday Ashok made sure that food never ran out in the Refreshment Room

for the donors. Right from clising the cake to shopping fruit to refilling

the cookie trays, it was all his domain.... THANK YOU Ashok...

By this time I did not even have the time to think if the donors would come!

The staff at the blood bank had to forego their mid morning tea as there was barely any time to scratch their heads!

Hats off to these two friends who just walked in to donate blood... so taken in

were they with our merry bunch of CATS, that they asked to be registered for all our future activities ;-)

However, their benevolence did not end with blood donation, they asked for the eye donation forms too :)

I needed as many caring pair of working hands as possible... it would have been

mortifying if any of the donors walked away with a feeling of being unattended or not valued...

Thank you CAT AP for taking care of the donors for hours at end...

and was it not sheer delight to have our bench mark CAT DV and his beautiful wife CAT Nirmal come around to cheer up the donors?

Thanks to the best ever speech delivered by CAT Abhijit the evening before,

Rustam volunteered to donate blood with his co workers and mates :)

work.. work.. and more work.... no time for lunch!!!!

Bags to be labelled.....

Records to be maintained....

and plates to be refilled.. CAT Gopika in control of the Refreshment Room by now :)

She could not donate blood this time on account of low Hb, but more than

made up by working non-stop since the previous day by my side...

paw by paw... smile by smile... pout by pout.. and yes... sandwich by sandwich ;-)

By this time, both the medical rooms were full for the pre-bleeding medical and

a horde of donors was sitting in the reception area too..

a STAR DONOR himself, Rtn. Kewal Seth came to congratulate CATS for their 3rd birthday...

Major BM Singh had a stiff neck and should not have been driving,

but he came for sure to cheer up the donors no end.

CAT Navpreet was deferred on account of medicinal intake but he stayed

for a few hours also and got his father and friends from the university to donate with us... MEOW :)

Our yet another STAR DONOR Hemant had no trouble with his pulse or BP this time..

now if only he had put his mobile in the right pocket before being wired to the bag ;-)

Kaun thi bhai... Main HAT khareed loon kya??!!

Jokes aside, first time blood donation is an experience in itself....

I find it comforting to spend more time with the first timers, perhaps

because I had fought through my own clouds of fear and concern years ago before my own first blood donation.

and this is that magic bag of red fluid without which we loose lives...

It was reported in the paper in the morning that 50 units of blood were needed

to save the life of one woman... she's well on the way to recovery as I write this :)

Saath mein insaan kitna kuchh ker jata hai :)

The Racer Varun who came to donate blood after a little banter on Rimmy's Wall on FB ;-)

Chale aayo... chale aayo... :)

and do meet our STAR DONOR CAT Abhijit..

Wish we could clone him.. the world would become such a better place with more souls like him around :)

Another first time donor Rimmy Madaan... her only fault was that she did a story on CATS.. and look what it has led to ;-)

It was good to have CAT Jolly come around too.. even though we all believe that two units can be taken off him in one go ;-)

son CAT Navpreet was deferred, so father CAT Onkar stepped in to give blood instead :)

yes.. the medical room was still full... yet more donors.. yet more blood.. yet many more smiles :)

CAT Rivinder S joined CATS for blood donation for the first time... a great benefit to be posted back in town :)

CAT Kewal came with his friend to donate all the way from Rajpura.. MEOW :)

yeh dekho laal rang... inn se 2 unit lo :D

Regular donor Gurdev leading his colleagues,.. his STAR DONOR personalised key ring would be waiting for him next time :)

and the one who has given blood 8/8 camps.. CAT Ashish A.. inn ki tareef mein itna hee qaafi hai :D

jokes aside though, he spent with me two afternoons to sample food at

3 bakeries before we settled on the menu which was being devoured by all :)

Another husband wife team; CAT Maharaj and CAT Anu Sodhi came to

donate blood together... good to see you both on the bleeding block after a long time :)

just imagine the sheer merriment was going on at the blood bank...

this lot was passing through the corridor, but still grinned through the glass of the bleeding room for a KODAK MOMENT :D

Sahil, your STAR DONOR key ring would also be ready at the next camp :)

Yet another CFC member Aman came with his colleague to donate blood...

thanks for spreading the infection of blood donation around Aman :)

Yeh dil maange more...

We were running out of sandwiches and drinks by this time...

CAT Mona stepped in with more sandwiches and drinks for the donors :)

Another pair of friends who donated blood together :)

CAT Mohit may not be able to make it for other events, but it was nice to catchup with him for the blood donation :)

Thanks Ajay... Aap khoon ka rishta bakhoobi nibha rahe hain hum se :)

CAT Sandy who had come running from the university with her friend to donate blood..

and then run back to campus to carry on with her research.. THANK YOU bachha :)

and just when we thought we were done... this handsome couple walked in with the last batch of donors :)

It was a very special feeling to be congratulated by the doctor who saved your mother

from the clutches of near death three decades ago... and equally propelling he was now

that there is so much more for CAN & WILL to achieve... while his gorgeous wife stepped in

with tender support..... 'Don't you fret darling and Supreet - YOU WILL' :)

and what a day it has been... 80 units in a day against the target of 50.

Time to rest my paws.. but not before I thank each of the first timers who kept

their faith in this noble deed... for the SDI team for their support.. for CFC to become

part of the gang.. Rotarians for cheering us up with smiles and cookies.. all the staff

of Rotary Blood Bank under the leadership of Dr Shah... All the donors for coming

together to make it a memorable camp.. for all the CATS who came together to celebrate

our 3rd birthday and for everyone to be part of the launch event of CAN & WILL Foundation.

- CAT Supreet