SM Foundation: Making a difference through blood drives

​
Mr. Dalfhen Samson (second from the left), Health and Medical Programs Project Officer of SM Foundation, receives the Gawad Emilio Aguinaldo award from the Department of Health’s Philippine Blood Center.

It’s already 2020. But Margie Reyes, Compensation and Benefits Manager of SM Investments, can still vividly recall her nephew’s death due to leukemia. With teary eyes, she shared that this became part of her personal advocacy on why she’s been a regular blood donor of SM Foundation (SMFI) for three years now. “I am honored and proud that through SM Foundation, I’m able to pursue my advocacy in a way that would also benefit other people,” Margie said.

“I want to help as many people as I can by participating in SMFI’s bloodletting activities,” mentioned Walter Frederick Yu, Vice President for Information Technology of SM Investments. Walter also believes that regular blood donation can help him maintain his health and wellness - since the procedure can help in minimizing the risk of strokes and heart attack. He has been donating blood even before he became part of SM and as an SM employee, he already donated blood five times.

Margie and Walter are some of the many SM employees who regularly donate blood through SMFI, which is also a vehicle of SM in engaging their employees in doing social good. Through SMFI’s blood donation drive, employees and mallgoers are given a chance to volunteer in donating blood at camps held across SM malls in the country.

​
SM Foundation’s 2019 blood donation drive

For 2019, more than 800 SM employees and external stakeholders were able to donate blood to the PBC through the efforts of SMFI. “Because of these volunteers, we were able to save almost 2,500 lives,” according to Jerick Laxamana, Blood Donor Recruitment Officer of the Department of Health – PBC. “With the number of people requesting for blood, it's hard to keep up with the nationwide demand. On any given day, thousands of blood units are used for transfusions throughout the country. This is why this partnership with SMFI is a great help in augmenting our blood supply,” Laxamana added.

​

Because of SMFI’s efforts in spreading social good with PBC, SMFI received the Emilio Aguinaldo Award for its blood drive initiative of almost 1,000 blood units from October 2018 to September 2019. The awarding ceremony intends to recognize the commitment and support of blood donor partners in providing safe, adequate, and accessible blood for patients who need them and whose lives were saved.

This year, SM Foundation has already held numerous blood-letting drives in SM malls around the National Capital Region in partnership with PBC from January to February. Both organizations are planning to execute the second round of their blood drives by September this year.

SMFI said that it dedicates the award to real heroes like Margie and Walter. Through blood donors like them, SMFI, together with its partners, was able to strengthen and improve the delivery of safe, adequate, accessible, and affordable blood supply to health facilities in the country.

​SM Foundation’s 2019 blood donation drive

To know more about SMFI’s Blood donation drives, you can check out their social media handles (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) @SMFoundationInc or visit their website at https://www.sm-foundation.org.