Residents of Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Odesa and Lviv have donated 133 litres of blood under We Are of One Blood initiative launched by FUIB in partnership with DonorUA and Blood Agents. This effort has the potential to save up to 885 lives. The final stop for the truck will be at Kontraktova Square in Kyiv, on Independence Day.
The LifeSavingTruck tour across Ukraine is dedicated to the anniversary of our independence and aims to raise awareness about the importance of regular blood donation. The truck operates for two days in every city.
“Since 24 February 2022, our country has been bled dry and destroyed. Our soldiers and civilians get wounded daily. Seventy percent of fatalities on the battlefield are caused by blood loss. Just as the circulatory system is essential for the human body to function, connecting its different systems and enabling them to work together, the banking sector plays a crucial role in a country’s vitality by linking various sectors of our economy. We saw a symbolic connection and a mission in this – to save Ukrainian blood. More than two years ago, we launched We Are of One Blood social project that evolved from a tactical initiative into a full-scale platform. It produces Not Just Things that save people’s lives. We aren’t going to stop as long as the war continues,”
said FUIB’s Marketing Director Ksenia Sikorska.
The LifeSavingTruck includes a mobile blood donation centre, a blood typing station, and a We Are of One Blood merchandise corner, where each donor receives a 25% discount on clothing. Fifty percent of the proceeds from each merchandise item ordered go to DonorUA, Blood Agents and Hospitallers CSOs. Thus, each donor has an opportunity to help twice: by donating blood and by becoming an investor in its transportation to flashpoints and in the purchase of tactical medical supplies.
“The all-out war has increased the need for donor blood by about 60%. This is an enormous demand, especially considering that even before 2022, two-thirds of patients did not receive blood in time. Some patients, such as those awaiting planned transfusions or surgeries, can wait. However, wounded soldiers on the battlefield or injured civilians in the frontline regions do not have that option. Therefore, blood for their survival is transported from all over Ukraine. Of 100+ trips we’ve organised, 80 have been funded through our collaboration with FUIB,”
said Iryna Slavinska, CEO and co-founder of DonorUA.
“You can either go on and on about the lack of donors, or you can come up with the boldest ideas and launch creative campaigns to find more donor blood. The LifeSavingTruck tour across Ukraine has proved once again that inventive approach can better engage new donors. People showed up out of curiosity to see how the donor truck worked, so we achieved a win-win format of people getting an experience and our centre getting blood. Medics in every city have had a chance to meet their donor blood needs for a while, which is the most important part as donorship is vital these days,”
said Ivanka Koval, co-founder of Blood Agents.
FUIB launched We Are of One Blood project more than two years ago with a mission to consistently help with donor blood inventory, deliver blood components to the flashpoints, purchase tactical medical supplies for Ukrainian defenders, provide equipment to paramedics and adaptive clothing to the wounded. Over its lifespan, the project has donated UAH 8,604,984 to civil society organisations, purchased 6,312 tactical medical supplies, completed 80 blood deliveries, provided 912 adaptive clothing items to the wounded, and most importantly – saved 126,587 lives.
