Kanpur :

A city based social activist was honoured for donating blood 48 times in his life at an event held on the occasion of blood donor day in Lucknow on Sunday.

RK Saffar, who is currently serving as Red Cross Society’s secretary, was felicitated during a ceremony organised at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Sunday. He received a momento from Arvind Kumar, principal secretary, medical and health.

Expressing his gratitude to the state government for giving him the award, Saffar said that the feeling was overwhelming. “Uttar Pradesh is far behind other states in terms of percentage of blood donors. I am happy that the government has recognised my efforts,” he said.

Saffar, 56, said, “I make sure to donate blood every 3 months.”I believe that nothing can be more charitable and noble than donating blood. It doesn’t take any toll on your health and you can save so many lives by merely donating blood. Regular donations help you live a healthy life too. I have donated blood 5 times a year also,” he said.

The social activist said that today youngsters have taken the lead in donating blood because of the campaigns on social networking sites. “The other reason as to why youngsters voluntarily donate blood these days is that the blood donation certificate helps you enter foreign universities. It is the simplest charity one can do,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kanpur / TNN / June 15th, 2015