Bucharest, June 6, 2018 – The blood transfusion center in Satu Mare has been upgraded in the 2017- 2018 stage of the „A chance for life” program, implemented through the partnership between the Vodafone Romania Foundation and the React Association. The center’s upgrading project included the renovation of the donor’s circuit, covering a total area of approximately 1,200 square meters, plus the fitting of the center with blood harvesting chairs. The funding provided by the Vodafone Romania Foundation to the project in Satu Mare amounted to RON 110,000.
Built in 1976, the blood transfusion center in Satu Mare serves seven hospitals in the county, plus several transfusion centers in other counties. Last year, nearly 11,300 people donated blood at the Satu Mare center, with the number of recipient-patients reaching over 41,600.
In addition to the Satu Mare project, the current „A Chance for Life” program phase includes renovating and upgrading the donor’s trail from another 23 blood transfusion centers out of the total 42 centers existing across the country. The first 18 centers have gone through this process under the same program, in the 2014-2016 stage of the program.
It is estimated that the number of blood donors and recipient-patients who will benefit from the improvements brought to transfusion centers all over the country following upgrading and fitting thereof with medical furniture and equipment will reach almost 1,260,000 in total.
„A Chance for Life” program was launched in 2008, with total funding allocated by Vodafone Romania Foundation totaling approximately EUR 1 million. Soon after its launch, the program became the largest national blood donation program in Romania. It started with several annual information and education sessions, advocating the importance of voluntary and periodical blood donation, and continued with several mobile blood donation campaigns carried out in public places, at university campuses and at company headquarters. In 2014, the program expanded to cover also the refurbishing and equipping of the blood transfusion centers. The blood transfusion center in Bucharest, the largest in Romania, was the first to benefit from this program
As a result of the „A Chance for Life” program, blood transfusion centers in Romania recorded in 2016 a decrease in the average age of donors at country level, for the first time ever since 1989. Currently, 30% of the blood donated at national level comes from young donors.
The Vodafone Romania Foundation is a Romanian nongovernmental charitable organization, established in 1998, which operates separately and independently from the Vodafone Romania SA’s business. During its 20 years of activity, Vodafone Romania Foundation has funded 1,104 programs run by 706 NGOs throughout the country, in the fields of healthcare, education and social services. These projects had a total of 2.7 million beneficiaries – children, young and old people and physically, socially or economically disadvantaged people. So far, Vodafone Romania has invested over 28 million euros in projects run by nonprofit partner organizations. More details about the Foundation’s programs are available at www.Fundația-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.Fundația-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/Fundațiavodafone
The React Association is a non-governmental organization that significantly participates in the development of the four pillars of a prosperous community: health, education, social economy and community development. The implemented projects trigger major changes in people’s lives through tailored interventions and active involvement. In the eleven years since its establishment, almost 1 million Romanians have benefited, directly or indirectly, from the projects carried out by the React Association. The association’s achievements have been recognized by the 18 national and international prizes it has been awarded for excellence, which makes it rank among the non-governmental organizations in Romania with the highest number of prizes won.
