JEDDAH, 28 May 2007 — The blood bank of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) in Riyadh received a total of 44,000 cc of blood from 88 Filipinos during a blood-letting event at the Philippine Embassy on Friday.

And that’s just for a starter, according to Philippine Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor.

He said hundreds more have registered to give their share in the next rounds planned for the blood donation project dubbed “Dugo Ko, Alay Ko” (I offer you my blood).

“Friday’s event was just the start. Dugo Ko, Alay Ko is a continuing program and we intend to replicate it in Qassim, Alkhobar and Jeddah,” Villamor said in a phone interview on Saturday.

“It is one of our ways of expressing gratitude to a country and people who have generously provided employment to countless Filipinos for more than 30 years,” he said.

He urged Filipino workers all over the Kingdom to register for the blood donation project, reminding them that “donating blood is the highest form of offering to a friend in need.”

Dr. Hind Al-Humaidan, director of the KFSHRC Blood Bank, applauded the “genuine gesture of appreciation and act of charity” from the Filipino community.

KFSHRC’s Blood Bank sent a big force of health workers for the day-long blood-letting.

Alina Articulo, president of the Filipino Nurses Association (Filnasa), speaking on behalf of the special guest, Prince Khaled Bin Talal Al Saud, called the event “a proud moment where the Filipino’s distinct, life-giving generosity and hospitality has been formally introduced to the Kingdom.”

Labor Attaché Resty dela Fuente said the outpouring of support by the community for the project was inspiring.

Organizers noted that Saudi health authorities maintain their regular program of promoting blood donation to address current and future needs of hospitals all over the Kingdom.

With an estimated 1.2 million Filipinos in the Kingdom, the beneficiary hospitals won’t run out of blood supply even if only a small portion of members of the community who volunteer are qualified to donate, said Dela Fuente.

Among the first group of donors were members of the Alpha Phi Omega, one of the biggest and most active fraternities in the Philippines.

Arab News learned that many other Filipino individuals in the Kingdom are regular donors to the Red Crescent through government hospitals in the Kingdom. Numerous community organizations and even students have also raised funds in the past years for the Philippine National Red Cross. But Dugo Ko, Alay Ko is the first organized Filipino community blood-letting campaign.

The project is a collaborative effort of the Philippine Mission and the Filipino Community, and KFSHRC, with support from ACES Co. Ltd., Almarai Co., Al-Safi Dairy Co., Pinoy Supermarket, Power Horse Drink, and United Laboratories, said

Organizers stressed that the community will implement the project on a continuing basis, and that a given month will be declared by the Philippine Embassy as Blood Donation Month.

The project also aims to increase health consciousness among members of our community through orientation briefings before blood-letting sessions, said Lito Lico, co-chair of the Community Organizing Committee.

Community members said they were also happy with the way the blood donation program is being run and with the enthusiastic support it has gotten so far.

“What the recently concluded overseas absentee voting lacked in information campaign materials, the Dugo Ko Alay ko project had so much in abundance,” said absentee voting advocate Francis Oca, referring to the poor turnout of registrants in the Kingdom during the month-long electoral exercise that ended on May 14.