Chevron™'s Valentine Gift: 223 Blood Donors

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Chevron™'s Valentine Gift: 223 Blood Donors

February 16, 2009

METRO MANILA, Philippines, February 16, 2009 -  In response to the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) plea that it is hard-pressed to meet the still increasing demands for blood, employees and contractors of Chevron Philippines Inc. spearheaded Project Give, a 2-day blood drive that produced 223 successful donations or 98,850 cc of blood. 

Chevron, the marketer of quality Caltex-branded fuels and lubricants, created "Project Give: Give Love, Give Blood, Give Life!" to enable its volunteers not only to donate blood but also to refer donors. The blood drive was held in Chevron facilities in Makati, Pandacan and Batangas. 

Dr. Urduja Carino, medical officer of the National Blood Center of the PNRC National Headquarters, said their average target is at least 50 donors per drive. Carino commends Chevron volunteers for their success in beating their own donation record of 67,500 cc achieved in 2003. The latest Chevron effort went beyond this target, with at least 283 volunteers registering to donate. Of 223 viable donors, 109 were Chevron employees and contractors. 

"What drives them is the desire to help," says Lalaine Rivera, President of Chevron™'s Filipino Employee Network (FEN), one of Chevron's volunteer corps that implemented Project Give. 

Chevron volunteers indeed rose to the challenge and used all traditional and non-traditional tools to gather the comparatively significantly large turnout, using SMS, e-mail, and even social networking websites to call donors to action. Rivera says most of the participants were first-time donors and were scared of needles, blood, and the pain associated with blood extraction, but they bravely, and gamely, completed the process. 

The 2-day blood drive falling on busy work days did not seem to hinder employees and other donors from arriving and calling other people to come. Rivera says that some donors came at lunchtime, before or even after work as the PNRC medical staff were packing their kits at day's end. In Batangas, some donors included public school teachers on their breaks. In Makati, visitors were greeted at the Chevron reception area with a warm invitation to be a blood donor. There was even a Caltex service station manager in Pampanga who urged a staff member who was headed for Makati on donation day to donate on his behalf.

 "Volunteerism and diversity are part of the Chevron corporate culture," says Cherry Ramos, Chevron Coordinator for Policy, Government and Public Affairs. "Blood drives are a tradition in our company. But what is unique in this latest blood drive is that there is an internal incentive program that particularly targets donor recruiters as a way to achieve mass donation. For those who referred a donor, we gave away romantic prizes in celebration of the love month like Valentine lollipops, movie tickets for two and even a gift certificate for an overnight stay with breakfast for 2 in a deluxe hotel that can be used on February 14 or until the GC expires." 

"We advocate that proactive blood donation means you should not stop helping just because you are taking medication or lack sleep on donation day or recently had a tattoo." adds Jonathan Cristobal, CPI Batangas Terminal External Coordinator. "If you are not qualified to donate, then you should refer a friend or a customer or a contact that can. We in Chevron believe that if you are really driven to help, you will find ways to send a respectable amount to the blood bank and help extend the lives of people in need."