Canadian Students' Union holds blood drive (12/01/96)

Canadian Students' Union holds blood drive

by Robert Kalinovich

EDMONTON - The explosion at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in the early morning of April 26, 1986, was a tragic event that altered many lives. The radiation and environmental damage caused by this accident continues to plague Ukraine and neighboring nations, and will continue to do so for many generations to come.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of this event, the national executive of the Ukrainian Canadian Students' Union (SUSK) in conjunction with Edmonton Blood Center, Canadian Red Cross, held a blood drive during the week of September 14-21 in Edmonton.

The main objectives of the Chornobyl Commemoration Blood Drive were:

to demonstrate that there are many Canadians who are willing to donate their blood as a symbolic act of solidarity and compassion for the victims of Chornobyl;
to contribute to the 52,000 donations of blood that Edmonton area requires annually;
to continue creating a general public awareness about the Chornobyl disaster;
to inform the media and government bodies at all levels about the tragic aftermath of this nuclear catastrophe.

Media members were invited to attend the opening event of the blood drive, which took place on September 14 at the Edmonton Blood Center. Dr. Ihor Gauk, chairman of the medical education project OSVITA, was the guest speaker. He briefly outlined the accomplishments of OSVITA in educating doctors in Ukraine and also spoke of the problems that remain.

On hand that day were a variety of local media representatives. Radio station K97 held live "On Location" broadcasts, television station CFRN aired the event on both the early and late evening newscasts, and The Edmonton Sun newspaper included a picture and an article in the following day's newspaper. Roman Fedoriw also filmed an opening event for the Ukrainian TV show "Kontakt".

Blood donors that day also enjoyed delicious pyrohy donated by Gramly's Ukrainian Foods. Other sponsors of this event included the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, which donated draw prizes, and Roman Brytan at CKER Radio, who publicized the event.

A mobile clinic also collected blood during the week at a number of locations around Edmonton. Traveling with the mobile clinic was a large card that was painted by Jessica Galick, a seventh grade student at J.J. Bowlen Junior High School of Edmonton. The card was signed by the blood donors as a symbol of compassion and solidarity to Chornobyl victims and will be sent to the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund. It will later be forwarded to Ukraine in order that some of the people most affected by the Chornobyl disaster might know that the rest of the world hasn't forgotten about them.

The Organizing Committee, which included Lada Bassa, Robert Kalinovich, Gena Slawuta and Volodymyr Boychuk, got the idea for this blood drive from a similar event that was held in Michigan.

Over all, the Chornobyl Commemoration Blood Drive in Edmonton proved to be a very successful event. Being the first blood drive for this cause in Canada, it attracted over 300 donors, who in this symbolic way commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl catastrophe. Also, extensive media coverage helped to keep the general public and government bodies informed about the tragic consequences of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

SUSK would like to encourage any other interested organizations or groups in forming their own blood drives in their respective cities. For more information contact Volodymyr Boychuk, SUSK president, via e-mail: [email protected] or by telephone, (403) 432-7752.