It all started five years ago on Facebook.
Vinod, a KSRTC bus conductor from Alappuzha, created a Facebook page by the name ‘We Help’ aimed at helping the poor and the destitute. It drew in many like-minded people, and before long, they were into blood donation.
And then, it became the main service of the group, prompting the formation of an exclusive group called Blood Donors Kerala (BDK), which is driven by a group of youngsters like Jishnu Raj, a telecom engineer; Vinu Nair, an IT employee; businessmen Rahul Ramesh and Aneesh Ashraf; engineering students Akshay, Bleson, and Sreejith; bank employee Atul and lawyer Aruna, to name a few.
In the last one year, the group has facilitated blood donation by thousands of people, besides organising 60-odd camps and awareness programmes.
The most memorable camp was the one at Vallarpadam at the wedding of one Joby, a member of the group.
BDK is perhaps the first name that arises in the public domain whenever there is need for blood anywhere in the State.
People approach it either directly or through the social media, and the group finds donors from the geographically nearest location from its exhaustive list of donors.
The group maintains region-specific Whatsapp groups for targeted service. So, there are separate groups for places like Ernakulam, Edappally, Angamaly, Perumbavoor, Aluva, Kothamangalam, Kolancherry, and Paravur.
The group is also engaged in charity work, which include sponsoring of poor students, supply of food at orphanages to mark birthdays of members.
Platelet donation
BDK is organising a camp for three days from June 12, culminating on World Blood Donors Day on June 14. The camp for donating platelets to leukaemia patients will be held from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on all days, and interested people may walk in and donate blood.
BDK members will also conduct a gathering at Amrita Hospital on Sunday.
