Monday 7 December the Red Cross blood bus visited Aker Solutions at Fornebu for the fifth time since June 2009. Aker Solutions employees embrace the opportunity to contribute to a good cause; saving lives by donating blood.
In total, more than 70 employees from Aker Solutions have registered as blood donors for the blood bus. During Monday, 25 employees donated blood, which is close to the daily target for the blood bus. One of the blood donors from Aker Solutions, Jan Eyolf Brustad, Project Manager – IT, values the opportunity to donate blood at the office: “I appreciate having easy access to the blood bus. I have been a blood donor for twenty years and until now I have been travelling to Oslo through heavy traffic which takes about 2,5 hours in total. With access to the blood bus at Aker Solutions, it takes me only half an hour. It feels good to help others, and at the same time I know that this is good for my own health as well”, says Jan Eyofl Brustad.
Gunnar Grue, Chief Manager of the blood bus, emphasises that there is always a need to fill up the blood supplies. Since blood cannot be made artificially and is only useful when it is “fresh”, the hospitals are fully dependent on regular blood donors. The blood bus has been a very successful initiative in order to increase the amount of blood donors. “We are now visiting about 25 companies in Oslo. They are supplying us with electricity and doing a very good job to recruit donors. Especially the Aker Solutions employees are very eager to donate blood”, says Gunnar Grue.
The blood bus is part of the strategic partnership between Red Cross and Aker Solutions. “The blood bus is an innovative way of reaching out in the community and it makes it easy to become a volunteer and engage in society. Hence I would like to take the opportunity to ask all Aker Solutions employees to donate blood”, says Irene Løken, Project Manager Norwegian Red Cross.
The blood bus will continue to visit Aker Hus regularly during 2010. The ambition is that more than 100 Aker Solutions employees register as blood donors before the summer.