The Media Corner

Today, we celebrate the official birthday of our humble little organization. We may have turned 14 officially, but our mission had begun long ago.  

It's a moment to pause and reflect on the incredible journey we’ve undertaken together, the invaluable experiences we've shared, the enduring friendships forged and the remarkable contributions of our dedicated team and volunteers.

Throughout these very active years, our call center received 160,000 cries for help from families of patients undergoing different types of surgeries in addition to chronic patients suffering from cancer, dialysis and thalassemia (to name a few).

 

With over a million outgoing calls and the generosity of donors, we are proud to have secured over 60,000 successful blood and platelet donations to 142 hospitals. To all the families that we were able to support, we wish your loved ones well. And to those that we were not able to support, please accept again our apologies but we surely did our best to help.

 

We are proud to have introduced the concept of mobile blood donation campaigns in the country and to have organized 1,312 of them in less than 10 years and collected 44,332 blood units through many partnerships and collaborations. These collected units helped so many patients without having them even realize that it was all due to efforts of volunteers and blood donors that they would never meet; and that’s the point! Thank you to all schools, universities, private and public institutions who welcomed us with open arms to create this enjoyable and accessible blood donation experience.

We are proud to have conducted over 5,000 conferences, interviews, sessions, interventions, in schools, universities, companies, scout groups, religious groups and political parties to shed light on this crucial cause that often goes unnoticed.

 

Notably, we are proud to have achieved all the above while keeping our financial independence. We have sustained ourselves through local funding without ever receiving any financial support from international organizations or embassies. That is why we counted on you, our beloved community, every time we organized fundraising events. We are forever grateful to all individuals and/or local institutions that supported us financially throughout all these years.

In summary, we are proud that a total of 105,000 voluntary blood units from the call center and the blood drives combined were donated through Donner Sang Compter over 15 years.

(See our full impact: https://damlb.com/en/support)

 

And here, we would like to take a moment to give credit where it’s due:

First and foremost, to the selfless blood donors who generously donated their time and blood for the wellbeing of their unknown brother or sister in need, anonymously. Some of you didn’t hesitate to go every three months and this is the best form of social solidarity to witness!

Secondly, the 5,000+ trained volunteers who, despite witnessing volunteers of international NGOs being compensated, and despite the dire economic circumstances in Lebanon, dedicated themselves to the cause without complaint, understanding the essence of true volunteerism and altruism.

 

Thirdly, the hospitals that acknowledged and supported our efforts, actively participating in blood drives to increase their blood stock levels proactively without waiting for emergencies to happen.

Finally, the call center operators, predominantly students, who deserve special commendation for their dedication as they respond to anger and frustration with professionalism and compassion.

But… whose responsibility is it really to secure blood?

In order to fight the injustice and last-minute stress that patients go through on a daily basis, Donner Sang Compter was founded with the aim to create a movement and engage the largest number of people through nationwide awareness campaigns around the importance of giving blood voluntarily. This simple, free and spontaneous act makes those who do it, and those who receive it, happy; and we are very grateful to have seen it grow exponentially.

This movement was based on the three major pillars: Emergency Response through the call center, Proactive Response through the blood drives and Community Engagement involving blood donors and volunteers. It also grew internationally and we are proud to have been part of the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations (IFBDO), representing Lebanon since 2012, and to have organized the International Youth Forum in Lebanon, twice.

 

Despite succeeding on that front, we unfortunately find ourselves helpless when it comes to the broader experience of blood requestors and blood donors at all public and private blood banks, which are beyond our control.

 

After more than 14 years in the field, we have some concerns to raise:

1-    Are blood banks promoting and accepting voluntary blood donation (not to a specific patient?)

2-    Are blood banks doing their best to keep their stock level high by conducting regular blood drives proactively?

3-    Why aren't the "standardized eligibility criteria" established by the government and the concerned committee in 2015 being implemented uniformly across all blood banks, which continue to follow their own individual criteria? Whose responsibility is it to enforce these standards?

4-    Are blood banks ensuring the best experience to donors by offering them: a welcoming and friendly environment, free parking, refreshment and a smooth donation process with minimal waiting time?

5-    Why aren’t the concerned entities organizing any public campaigns to promote blood donation despite the dedicated funds received? (such as breast cancer awareness, COVID-19, quitting tobacco, etc.)

6-    Who is in charge of transporting blood units? Is it acceptable (and safe?) that the family do it themselves in a bag full of ice?

 

These challenges and the lack of collaboration and proper coordination across the stakeholders pose significant obstacles to our work, causing frustration for the patients, their families, and the blood donors involved. While we have tirelessly raised these concerns, unfortunately, our voices remain unheard within the network.

 

On top of that, and due to the lack of funds over the past year and a half, we were compelled to shut down our offices in Saida and Tripoli, downsize the team, and unfortunately, observe a significant decline in the quality of our services. But this situation is no longer viable. Therefore, we will sadly be closing our Beirut office today.

 

As we bid you all farewell, we would like you to remember that Donner sang Compter is not just a non-profit organization. Donner Sang Compter is a philosophy of life, a way of living. 

 

We hope that you will carry DSC values of heart integrity, sacrificial love, courageous faith, empathetic humility and peaceful wisdom wherever you go in the hope of achieving our long-awaited dream of reconciliation, justice and peace in our beloved Lebanon.

 

And most importantly, don’t stop giving blood for you, for others, for your country,

 

والحمدلله على كل شي

One Love,

 

Yorgui Teyrouz

On behalf of DSC team