Blood Drives

"You are the best people for you have been raised for the benefit of mankind."   - Holy Quran (Chapter 3, verse 111)

• Getting Started - 3 months before
  1. Your team should be led by the Khidmat-e-Khalq Nazim, and two more Khuddam to make phone calls to urge people to donate. Three Khuddam should be available to help on site the day of the event.
  2. Identify a local, nonprofit, blood donation agency that is willing to come to the mosque for less than 50 bags of blood. NY Blood center and INOVA are two examples for NY and MD/VA areas.
  3. To find your local Blood Center, access the website: www.americasblood.org. From there, you can do a quick search by location for your nearest blood center.
  4. It has been found from past experience that since most Mission Houses/Namaz Centers are too small, a Mobile Collection Unit or Blood Bus is provided for the event. The bus is fully equipped like a small medical facility and has everything needed for the event. You will need to provide ample parking space for the bus, about three cars length of space.
  5. Once you have contacted an official from the agency, you will set up a date that is suitable. Set a date (preferrably on a weekend) that gives you ample time to plan and advertise the event. For first time organizers, a month and a half to two months is recommended.
  6. Identify previous donors from your majlis, as well as from friends, neighbors, colleagues, classmates, etc.
  7. Meet with your agency representative to discuss procedures and location for the drive. Accompany the representative on a tour of the site to check traffic flow, space requirements, restroom access, telephone service, etc.
     
• Team Building - 6 weeks before
  1. Local Qaid and Nazim Khidmat-e-Khalq should seek approval to use the facily from local President and should also inform Lajna President
  2. Notify Jamaat members of the upcoming blood drive and ask for their support.
  3. Carefully exclude all those members from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Africa who have visited an area where Malaria is common. People must wait 1 year (symptom free) after returning from a trip to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh before they can donate. If anyone stayed in these countries for more than 6 months, they may have to wait 3 years (symptom free) before donating blood.
  4. Get "commitments" from all members. Make Sign-Up sheets with assigned times so that people feel committed to attend.
     
• Start Scheduling - 2 weeks before
  1. Speak directly with Jamaat members who are hesitant to donate. Direct contact is proven the most effective strategy for a large turnout.
  2. As with every major event, you can assume a 20% cancellation rate. In theory, if you plan on having 50 donors, recruit 63 persons.
  3. Take advantage of materials available from the blood center. Most agencies can provide posters, brochures, sign-up cards, tent cards, news releases, text for radio public service announcements, text for proclamations, and videos for presentations.
  4. Schedule appointments for donors based on their stated time preference on pledge cards.
  5. Quite often, the majority of the participants at our Blood Drives are non-Jamaat members. So reach out to all Jamaat contacts, as well as friends, neighbors, colleagues, classmates, acquaintances, etc. Ask all Khuddam to do this and direct all interested people to the one person controlling the appointment schedule.
  6. Placing posters, banners and flyers may or may not work but should be used. Post them up a couple of days before the event, and you may get a call or even a walk-in on the day of the drive. It is very unlikely that a person who sees the advertisement a month prior will schedule in advance for that day.
  7. Post this event online at Facebook and Craigslist and include a phone number and email address so that people interested can schedule an appointment.
  8. Pray to Allah that your efforts yield success.
     
• Day of Blood Drive
  1. Pray to Allah that He grants you a successful Blood Drive today and removes any obstacles.
  2. The coordinator should be at the site about 60 minutes before the first scheduled appointment in order to greet the blood collection personnel and to handle any last-minute details.
  3. As the donors arrive, someone should be there to check off the donor's name on the appointment schedule.
  4. Assign someone to make reminder calls to scheduled donors who are not present at their scheduled appointments.
  5. Be active in requesting people walking by to donate. It never hurts to ask! Let young Atfal take a lead. Make sure a banner or sign-board is placed in a visible area from the street/sidewalk.
  6. Take pictures!! Be sure to get permission from non-Jamaat members before taking their picture.
  7. Thank all participants as they leave, whether or not they were able to give blood.
  8. A nice lunch for all donors would be greatly appreciated. And don't forget about the staff as well.
     
• Day after the Blood Drive
  1. Thank the donors. The donors who participated this time will probably donate in the future.
  2. Follow up with "no-shows." Kindly offer your services to help them make it at the next Blood Drive.
  3. File all of your notes and paperwork generated during the drive. They will be helpful when organizing another drive.
  4. Take down publicity signs and store for future use.
  5. Report the event to the National KK team. Pictures are highly desirable.
  6. Thank Allah for allowing you to earn these blessings!

Contact Information:
Suleman Chaudhry
Muhtamim (Director) of Khidmat-e-Khalq
Email: sdchoudhry@gmail.com