Volunteers in South Korea were listed in the Guinness World Records for having the most people sign up as blood donors online within one day. On October 1st, 71,121 volunteers from the group We Are One completed online blood donation applications within a 24-hour period, from 8:00 am on October 1st until 8:00 am on October 2nd. The new record is about seven times the previous world record of 10,217 registrations (within 8 hours) held by India.
We Are One intends to raise awareness about the importance of donating blood to address the blood shortage stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts are part of the youth organization’s ‘Life On Youth On’ blood donation campaign.
According to the Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability published by the World Health Organization (WHO), blood supply shortages have impacted all countries during the pandemic. In January 2022, the American Red Cross announced that the United States was facing a national blood crisis – its worst shortage of blood in over a decade.
Mr. Junsu Hong, the head of We Are One, said, “It was possible not only because of the volunteers, but also the Korean Red Cross officials working at the forefront to solve the blood shortage, and the IT company that developed an efficient blood donation application system. In that sense it has great significance. I believe COVID-19 can be defeated when we are all one.”
We Are One, which recently launched in July, has been running the 70,000 blood donation campaign since August 27th. To date, over 43,811 people have already donated blood, and the remaining volunteers plan to donate by November.
The official record is accessible on the Guinness World Records website.
Around the world and even in New York, volunteers are participating in the We Are One blood donation campaign. New York-based members will donate blood for a week through October 22nd at the New York Blood Center.
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SOURCE Shincheonji Church of Jesus