NOW IN its third year, the General Accident Insurance Company’s annual blood drive proceeds will facilitate donations to the Chain of Hope Foundation for local open-heart surgeries.

With initial targets set at 50 units of blood, the 58 Half-Way Tree Road head office of the insurance company was transformed as the blood drive got under way promptly at 9 a.m. on Friday, June 16. At 1 p.m., the target was met and at the close of the blood drive, a total of 55 pints were collected.

General Accident’s Managing Director, Sharon Donaldson, said they were pleased to have surpassed this year’s target and are excited about the visible impact the drive will have this year.

“Part of our mission with the blood drive is to educate the public about the necessity of donation. This year working, alongside Chain of Hope, there is a clear view of this project’s benefit to the Bustamante Hospital for Children and the children awaiting heart surgery. General Acccident is proud to facilitate such a life-altering experience for our young Jamaicans,” Donaldson said.

Poised to assist almost double the number of children awaiting surgery, the manager for fundraising and operations at Chain of Hope, Nola Phillpotts Brown, explained the value of the partnership.

“We have six procedures to do next week and for each open-heart procedure, we will need at least three to five units of blood, so it means that we are right on the mark, and so we are so elated. We are also very thankful and very appreciative of the collaboration with General Accident,” Phillpotts Brown said.

General Accident staff members, customers and family members were among the 76 registered donations made on the day.

It is estimated that as many as 15 million children die or remain severely ill every year through potentially treatable or preventable cardiac diseases. Since 1996, Chain of Hope has been working towards their long-term goal that all children, wherever they are born, have access to quality cardiac care in their own countries.

Chain of Hope is only able to help these children in need, thanks to the dedication of their international network of renowned cardiac professionals and to the generosity of their donors.

Also offering support to the cause was Dr Mia Ramirez and her team of medical associates from Cuba.

“We are here in Jamaica by the agreement between Jamaica and Cuba. We are here to help the Jamaican people. We work in different public hospitals. This is not the first time we are donating. We donated last year to the Bustamante Hospital for Children’s mission blood drive because we know that Jamaica has a big problem with blood donation. We are grateful to be able to help Jamaica because this is our commitment,” Ramirez said.

The 2023 General Accident annual blood drive was done in partnership with Chain of Hope, the Musson Foundation, and the National Blood Transfusion Service (Blood Bank).