Every day, Finnish volunteers save lives – be one of them!
Nearly a thousand voluntary blood donors are needed every weekday to make sure that about 50,000 seriously ill patients receive the treatment they need every year. That is why the Aalto University Student Union is once again challenging all associations active within AYY to donate blood for the common good!
In the spring, #LuovutusAalto collected a total of 34 donations, meaning that we helped over 100 patients. The competition was won by a landslide by the bioinformation technology guild Inkubio with 23 donations. Inkubio was rewarded at the AYY Annual Ball with thunderous applause, and they received glory and adoration, a diploma from the Finnish Red Cross, and a free sauna night at one of AYY’s sauna facilities. Inkubio’s diploma can be found on Instagram!
The autumn LuovutusAalto challenge starts on the 2nd of October, and you can donate until the 30th of November. Like in the spring, the associations that have donated the most blood, both quantitatively and in percentage terms in relation to their number of members, are awarded the use of one of AYY’s sauna facilities for one night, a diploma from the Finnish Red Cross – and of course glory and adoration! All donors also receive an overall patch from the Finnish Red Cross. In addition, groups that have donated at least 10 times during the year will receive a diploma and their names will be put up on the Blood Service website.
The campaign is part of the Suomi Finland 100 campaign, where the Blood Service challenges donor groups to donate 10 000 bags of blood in 2017! For more information on the campaign, visit the Blood Service campaign website.
How to participate in the campaign:
- Register a VeriRyhmä group for your association at veripalvelu.fi/ryhmat. Name your group “AYY + name of your association”.
- If your association took part in the previous campaign, you do not have to establish a new group.
- Let AYY know that you are taking part in the campaign by filling out the form.
- Once again, if your association took part in the previous campaign, you do not have to establish a new group.
- Donate blood as a group or individually at a Blood Service Centre and remember to mention the name of your VeriRyhmä group to the staff at the Blood Service Centre during registration! Also remember to take your official ID with you!
- AYY will also organize blood donation points in Otaniemi in the autumn, and hopefully on other campuses as well.
- In the spring, some of the donors mentioned only the fact that they were taking part in the LuovutusAalto campaign, forgetting to mention the name of their association. This led to the disqualification of a few “votes”. Sadness.
- If you want to donate blood with a larger group, call the Blood Service Centre to arrange a donation time in advance. A good size for a group is 4 –6 persons, and you should reserve at least an hour for the donation.
- You should test whether you are suitable as a donor at www.sovinkoluovuttajaksi.fi. You can also call the free info phone for blood donors if you have any health-related questions, tel. 0800 0 5801 (weekdays 8–17).
- Sign up for AYY’s Facebook event! Social media hashtags: #LuovutusAalto and #VeriRyhmä! Challenge your friends!
Where can I donate?
- Espoo Blood Service Centre, Shopping Centre Iso Omena, Länsiväylätoimisto (NB! At the Iso Omena Service Centre from the 10th of April), Mon, Wed 12–19, Tue, Thu, Fri 11–18. Group sign-ups: 029 300 1040
- Helsinki, Sanomatalo Blood Service Centre, Töölönlahdenkatu 2, 2nd floor, Mon, Wed, Fri 11–19, Tue, Thu 8–19. Group sign-ups: 029 300 1030
- Helsinki, Kivihaka Blood Service Centre, Kivihaantie 7, Mon–Thu 11–18, Fri 9–16. Group sign-ups: 029 300 1020
- You can find the blood donation events held in Mikkeli on the Blood Service website.
Contact details
- Blood Service contact person, nurse Linda Holmström, linda.holmstrom@veripalvelu.fi, tel. 029 300 1030
- AYY contact person, Information Officer Katarina Vesikko, tiedottaja@ayy.fi, tel. 0505209440