Through its three-year partnership, ALIV, the newest mobile network revealed its plans during this Christmas season, to donate a blood van to the Friends of the Blood Bank (FOTB), which will allow the foundation ease of access when hosting blood drives.

Bianca Bethel-Sawyer, ALIV’s Events, Sponsorship and Community Manager, during a press conference, said that ALIV was happy that they could partner with FOTB and give back during the holiday season.

“We’re here to announce, again our partnership with Friends of the Blood Bank, I would have met Mr. Christie about a year ago, when ALIV was still NEWCO, 2015-2016 and we had an original conversation of the needs of the Friends of the Blood Bank.

“One thing he would have advised me on is that it was difficult at the time for his organization to go to blood drives because they were in need of a blood van, and from that time to now, I am happy to announce today that the blood van is now ready to be revealed at the end of this week,” Mrs. Bethel-Sawyer stated.

As a major sponsor of the FOTB, Mrs. Bethel-Sawyer said that it was through the partnership and sponsorship funds that the company is able to give back.

“ALIV is a major sponsor of the blood van. Our partnership with Mr. Christie and the Friends of the Blood Bank is that we have a three-year partnership with him; where $10,000 of our sponsorship funds has been allocated to the mobile blood van and Friends of the Blood Bank.

“This would allow easy access of the equipment needed to get blood,” Mrs. Bethel-Sawyer said.

“Additionally, we also power all of their major blood drives they have throughout the year. ALIV will definitely be on site. We encourage members of the public to come on out and take advantage. It is the giving season and you give blood this holiday season to save a life,” she said.

Grateful for the donation, President of the FOTB, Basil Christie said that the blood van was something that the foundation needed desperately.

“Transport of this equipment and these beds has been cumbersome and sometimes difficult. We couldn’t hold certain blood drives because we couldn’t get the equipment there.

“We seriously believe that this getting blood saves lives. So it was easy for us to partner with ALIV. It coincides with what we do; we get the blood to save lives.

“Getting the equipment to them , we needed this van. And our partners, ALIV, for the year now, they have partnered with us. They provided major contribution for securing this van, to be able to take equipment and supplies to these sites to collect blood, that have been very crucial, and we are so grateful for this.

Mr. Christie stated that the foundation was set up to assist the blood banks of the hospitals, as there was need for blood, but persons were not coming in to donate.

“The Friends of the Blood Bank was set up because the need for blood at the Princess Margaret Hospital’s blood bank and Doctors Hospital were great and we weren’t getting sufficient blood.

“With people not being able to find parking at the hospital and you know, they hesitate to go to the hospital.

“So, what the Friends of the Blood Bank Foundation does is, we set up blood drives throughout the country. We go to the site, to the offices, to civic groups, the Rotary, the Masons; we go to them to get blood donations,” Mr. Christie said.

FOTB Blood Drive

On Saturday, Friends of the Blood Bank will host a blood drive at the Nassau Underwriters office in the Harbour Bay Shopping Center between the hours of 10am – 3pm.

“We are co-sponsored by the Rotary Club of Southeast Nassau and the Rotaract Club of Southwest Nassau.

“We’ll have the blood van or blood mobile from Doctors Hospital, as well as the staff from the Princess Margaret Hospital’s blood bank. We’ll be setup specifically in the Nassau Underwriters office which will be open on Saturday just for this purpose,” Mr. Christie said.