It has become a beautiful tradition for many years now that every time Tet comes, people with kind hearts meet at a special blood donation event of the year: the Red Spring Festival. Together, they donate drops of blood to promptly revive the lives of terminally ill people.

Preparing to enter the age of 60, the age group no longer eligible to participate in Voluntary Blood Donation (VBD), so Mr. Pham Hong Minh in Binh Hoa street, Ninh Khanh ward (Ninh Binh city) came to participate in VBD at the 2024 Spring Festival with a very special mood.

Sharing about the first time he participated in HMTN, Mr. Minh said it was around 2007. At that time, HMTN was still a very new activity for him and many people. Taking a drop of blood out of his body, Mr. Minh thought it would affect his health. But with the Red Cross staff's propaganda, analysis, and documents delivered to his hands to learn, Mr. Minh found that donating blood was even beneficial to his own health. And more than that, that drop of blood also created opportunities, saving the lives of many people who were on the brink of life and death. So Mr. Minh decided to participate in blood donation since 2007.

Not only actively participating in voluntary blood donation, Mr. Minh also encouraged his family members to participate in voluntary blood donation. Up to now, his son has also donated blood more than ten times. In addition, Mr. Minh's sister, brother-in-law, nephew, etc. are also actively participating in voluntary blood donation. With these efforts, Mr. Minh received many Certificates of Merit from the Minister of Health and the People's Committee of Ninh Binh province for his outstanding achievements in the voluntary blood donation movement.

"The 2024 Spring Festival is also my 40th blood donation. Unfortunately, I am about to pass the age when I can enthusiastically donate blood to save people. The blood donation times, the times I directly donated blood to help revive the lives of people who have unfortunately had accidents... those are beautiful memories in my life. After this 40th blood donation, I will no longer be a volunteer blood donor, however, based on my own experience, I will still be involved in the local blood donation movement. When old bamboo grows, new bamboo grows, I believe that this humane movement will continue and develop widely," said Mr. Minh.

Mr. Hoang Tri Thuc, Chairman of the Red Cross Society of Ninh Khanh Ward, said that typical blood donors such as Mr. Pham Hong Minh and his family members are the most active and effective propagandists in mobilizing relatives and people around them to respond to the movement. Thanks to that, the local blood donation movement has spread widely, changing the awareness of each person towards blood donation. The number of volunteers participating in blood donation is increasingly expanding, including nearly 10 volunteers who donated blood more than 20 times. In 2023 alone, the ward mobilized 88 units of blood, reaching 121% of the assigned plan.

When meeting Nguyen Thi Hong Linh, a student of the University of Home Affairs, few people would think that this petite girl is the leader of a live blood bank club called Thanh Xuan Xanh, established in 2021. Hong Linh said that at university, she actively participated in volunteer activities and community-oriented activities. Looking back to her hometown of Ninh Binh, Hong Linh always wanted to do something meaningful for her homeland. So, every time the voluntary blood donation campaigns organized by the provincial Red Cross Society took the initiative to arrange her study schedule to return home to participate. In addition, she also actively promoted and mobilized her friends to participate in donating blood to save lives. In particular, in the past few years, when the COVID-19 epidemic was complicated and the blood reserves of medical units were in difficulty, Hong Linh and her friends completed the procedures to launch the Thanh Xuan Xanh live blood bank club.

Hong Linh explained: The club is named Thanh Xuan Xanh because the members are mainly students, studying in many localities, many different universities and colleges. By establishing the Live Blood Bank Club, our youth have more responsibility to the community, ready to share drops of red blood to help people in need of blood in emergencies, at any time. Up to now, the club has more than 20 members. Members are also listed, their health is monitored, and the time of the most recent blood donation is recorded for easy contact when necessary. The club leader must be the one to inspire and coordinate members to donate blood in a reasonable and rhythmic manner. In addition to participating in blood donation to save lives, members also regularly propagate and mobilize relatives and the community to participate.

Participating in the 2024 Red Spring Festival, the Thanh Xuan Xanh Club has more than 20 members registered to donate blood. Mr. Mau Duc Long (Ninh Binh Cheo Theater) is a member who has participated in the blood donation drive 19 times. Mr. Long was moved because he was able to mark his 20th blood donation at this year's Red Spring Festival event. Mr. Long said: During the year, there are many blood donation drives, but the Red Spring Festival is a blood donation event at the beginning of the year with many special meanings with the mission of contributing to ensuring enough blood for emergency and treatment for patients during and after Tet. At the same time, this event also creates a cohesive and exciting volunteering environment for young people. To attract members to participate in the Spring Festival, the Club has promoted propaganda, mobilized members to participate in blood donation, supported reception, blood donation registration, guided and cared for blood donors... Those practical actions will help young people grow up, connect with new friends to carry out community activities together.

With the active participation of volunteers, the 2024 Red Spring Festival has achieved many impressive results with nearly 700 units of blood received. The blood recipient this time is Viet Duc Friendship Hospital. According to a representative of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, before, during and after Tet is the time when blood shortages are very likely to occur in emergency and treatment for patients. Therefore, organizing a large-scale blood donation event before Tet is always very important, contributing to adding blood units to the blood reserve. In Ninh Binh, the Provincial Steering Committee for Blood Donation at all levels always has creative and diverse ways of doing things, so the local blood donation movement has achieved outstanding results. Participating in the blood donation campaign has the participation of many ages and components, proving that the movement has a strong influence. This is an important factor in the success of the movement.

In order to promptly replenish the blood reserve, serving the treatment and emergency needs of patients before, during and after the Lunar New Year, the Provincial Steering Committee for Blood Donation has set a target of mobilizing 2,000 units of blood. Up to this point, through Red Sunday and the Pink Spring Festival, hospitals have received 2,300 units of blood, exceeding the set target. The impressive results in blood donation after launching two campaigns will be the motivation for localities and units to be more determined to organize and implement blood donation programs well according to the plan assigned in 2024 to promptly meet the blood supply for emergency and treatment of patients at hospitals in the province and share with central hospitals.

Dao Hang - Minh Quang