Open Access BPO Employees Join 5th Annual Blood Drive

Wazzup Pilipinas!

To promote volunteerism and spread awareness among employees, Philippine call center Open Access BPO partnered with the Philippine Red Cross to conduct its fifth annual blood drive.

Last year, Open Access BPO partnered with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to organize its 4th annual blood donation drive. This year, fourteen out of the 37 employees who expressed their interest were able to donate blood. The whole-day activity was held in the Philippine call center’s Makati office on April 7.

"This partnership (between Open Access BPO and PRC) emphasizes volunteerism. Blood donation is a good form of community service or corporate social responsibility," Dr. Edmundo Marra from the PRC team said. Dr. Marra spearheaded the blood donation activity.

Furthermore, according to Dr. Marra, blood donation is beneficial not only to the recipient but also to the donor. Blood loss stimulates the replenishment of red blood cells, which improves circulation and energizes the body.

"I’ve been donating blood regularly, but last year, I wasn’t able to participate in Open Access BPO’s blood drive since I was then a new employee. I definitely would join volunteer activities like this in the future, because I want to help those who need medical assistance," Edmond Enoy, one of the donors, said.

The PRC was able to collect approximately 6300 mL of blood from Open Access BPO volunteers, which helps fill their requirement of 2,500 to 3,000 blood units daily. The collected blood will be given to PRC’s partner hospitals all throughout the country. Currently, PRC provides 50% to 60% of the country’s total blood bank. To meet this demand, they also partner with schools and churches.

Simultaneous with the blood drive, Open Access BPO also teamed up with pharmaceutical company Sanofi, manufacturer of the world’s first licensed dengue vaccine called Dengvaxia. Sanofi conducted a dengue vaccine awareness campaign among employees to encourage them to protect themselves against this mosquito-borned disease. All three clinical development stages of Dengvaxia were conducted in the Philippines.

To continue to encourage employees to lead a healthy lifestyle, Open Access BPO will also be organizing dengue and flu vaccination programs in May and June of this year, respectively.