Mangaluru: They Came, They Saw, They Conquered the Hearts of dozens of the less-fortunate people residing at St Anthony’s Charitable Institutions (St Anthony’s Ashram)-Jeppu here. It was nice to note that a bevy of lady beauticians in the City (who own beauty parlours/Spas in and around Mangaluru) who have been caring to save one’s beauty, came forward in large numbers to save one’s life, by offering to donate blood during the “Blood Donation Camp”, with the motto “Donate Blood-Save Lives”. The Camp was held at St Anthony’s Ashram on Tuesday, 17 November from 10 am onwards, which was organized by Mangaluru Ladies Beauty Association (MLBA) in collaboration with Mangalorean.com and Red Cross Blood Bank-Mangaluru. A large number of donors came forward to donate blood for a good cause.
Apart from blood donation, prior to the Blood Donation program, the beauticians voluntarily gave make-up/hair-do for nearly 30 female inmates of St Anthony’s ashram. The female inmates were so thrilled to get a special hair-do from these professional beauticians, that few of them were demanding for a hair straightening, hair coloring, eye-brow make-up/Threading etc- and the MLBA members readily agreed to render their services, thereby putting a smile on these less-fortunate folks. These ashram females got a extreme-make over with a special hair-do, that they will be looking great and gorgeous for the Christmas Mass next month.
This Blood Donation Programme, was one of the many projects that the association has done since their inception- the main objective of forming their association with like minded beauty parlour owners was to fulfill their motto and showcase their unity, by establishing this Association with an objective to unite the beauty parlour owners in and around Mangalore to achieve their motto and solve our problems. And also to involve in various community projects for the betterment of the society.
The programme began with invoking God’s blessings through a prayer song rendered by the members of MLBA, followed by welcome address delivered by Mercy D’Souza-treasurer of the association. In the absence of Minister UT Khader, who had last minute appointment somewhere else, the programme was inaugurated by by lighting the lamp by Dr Rajeshwari Devi-District Surgeon and Superintendent-Wenlock Hospital, along with other dignitaries on the dais namely- Fr Onil D’Souza-Director, St Anthony’s Charitable Institutions, Dr Dolphin Karat-Head of Homeopathy Dept at the Ashram campus, Violet Pereira-Proprietor/Editor-in-chief, Mangalorean.com, Ronald Fernandes-President, Red Cross Blood Bank-Mangaluru and Bureau Chief of Deccan Herald, and Sony D’leema-President, MLBA.
Addressing the gathering Dr Rajeshwari while complimenting the beauticians for a life-saving project said, “The blood is red gold in time of saving a life. Five minutes of your time + 350 ml. of your blood = One life saved. Blood is meant to circulate, so we need to pass it around. Donation of Blood means a few minutes to you but a lifetime for somebody else. The blood you donate gives someone another chance at life. One day that someone may be a close relative, a friend, a loved one, or even you. A life may depend on a gesture from you, a bottle of Blood. To give blood you need neither extra strength nor extra food,and you will save a life. Blood is something we all expect to be there for us when we need it, yet very few of us come forward actively to give blood – many people would not be alive today if it wasn’t for the generosity of blood donors”.
She further said, “Most people can give blood, but all donors have to meet the eligibility criteria before their blood is accepted to ensure there’s no risk of us harming you or the patients who will receive it- so make sure you can donate. Blood donation is the easiest and the most powerful way to make an impact. With each unit you give, you can save up to 4 lives! I am so glad to note that these ladies who are in a different profession have come forward with this project, thinking of other’s precious lives. Your donation of blood will surely save someone’s life one of these days. Kudos to you all for a jog well done”. Dr Rajeshwari also briefed about the various services/modern medical facilities that Wenlock hospital is offering, and requested all those who can’t afford getting medical treatment at private hospitals can avail these services at Wenlock Hospital- she also offered her support to the inmates of St Anthony’s ashram in their time of medical care.
Fr Onil also speaking during the occasion said, ” Some time back when I entered a tailoring shop I observed a caption written in the shop. It read, “God made Man and the Tailor made him Gentle Man’. A similar adage could be said about the beauticians as “God made the Woman and the Beautician makes her Beautiful’. In every person there is a desire that he/she should look handsome/beautiful. That’s why people go to the beauty parlour. A beautiful face give self esteem to the person. It was really a kind gesture of the members of Mangalore Ladies Beauty Association to give hair cut to 30 of our female inmates . The ladies who received the haircut were happy and overjoyed”
“I take this opportunity to thank all those who offered their service free of cost to give haircut to our ladies. While thanking the Mangalore Ladies Beauty Association for their kind service I also would like to point out the inner beauty of the members of the association. The inner beauty of the members of lies in the noble attitude of service they have. It is because of this serving attitude they have come over and made our inmate ladies happy. Besides this act of service today they in collaboration with Red Cross Mangalore and Mangalorean.com have organized another noble act of service towards the humanity i.e. donation camp. May God almighty bless all those(members of Mangalore Ladies Beauty Association, Red Cross Mangalore and Mangalorean.com) who joined hands in organizing this beautiful life saving action. May God bless in a special way all those who have come forward to donate blood with good health and happiness” added Fr Onil.
Vote of thanks was proposed by Shobha Hegde, while the programme was compered by Pauline Saldanha and Priya Rego- all three hard-working members of MLBA. In conclusion, Team Mangalorean feels proud to be associated with Mangalore Ladies Beauty association and Red Cross Blood Bank-Mangaluru in organizing this life saving project. We should all know that life of some patients is resting on a fraction of hope in quest of your gift of love. A life in the surgeon’s hand may be yours, so come forward to donate blood right away. When you donate blood, you save lives.
Accidents and medical emergencies don’t take holidays—we need blood every minute, every day of the year. The blood you donate gives someone another chance at life. One day that someone may be a close relative, a friend, a loved one—or even you. You can observe your birthday by donating blood, which will make you proud. A few drops of your blood can help a life to bloom. Blood it’s in you to give-So give from the heart today and the Life You Save Could Be Your Own.
You don’t have to have a medical degree to save a life. Just a fair degree of humanity. Give Blood. Save Life. Blood donation will cost you nothing but it will save a life ! A life is waiting for a bag of blood from you. Be a Life Guard. Give Blood to save life. Run, Run, quick hit the mud, Come be good, and give some blood! My sincere thanks to all those who came forward to donate blood-May God bless you all.