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A Lifesaving Cause by NUMed’s VOLTAGE Society

With hospitals constantly in need of blood donations, the NUMed's Volunteer To Aspire Generations (VOLTAGE) Society took it upon itself to positively contribute to Johor’s community and possibly save lives.

6 June 2023

Blood is the life force constantly flowing within a human’s body. A lack of supply would complicate medical procedures such as surgery and emergency blood transfusions significantly. With hospitals constantly in need of blood donations, the Volunteer To Aspire Generations (VOLTAGE) Society from Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) took it upon itself to positively contribute to Johor’s community and possibly save lives. To achieve this, VOLTAGE Society collaborated with KPJ Johor Specialist Hospital and hosted a blood donation drive.

The blood donation drive was held on 9 May 2023, at the James Building inside NUMed’s campus. The drive, led by Seth O’ Brien and assisted by a small team of VOLTAGE committee members, lasted for seven hours and saw nearly 100 people attend the event despite the examinations and classes that were still ongoing. 

“We first thought of having this event as a way to end our term with a bang – to do something impactful and genuinely helpful to the community. The more we liaised with the KPJ Johor Specialist Hospital’s team and NUMed’s departments to make sure everything went as scheduled, the more support we received for this event,” shared Seth. 

 

The university also sponsored 60 goodie bags that were given away to the participants. The heartwarming response and support from NUMed’s staff, combined with the volunteers’ own perseverance and hard work, helped them rise above the difficult task itself. As the project lead, Seth viewed the event as a bigger success than expected, with nearly 80 blood bags accumulated.

Law Tze Shan, President of VOLTAGE Society, expressed her surprise at the overwhelming response the event received. “I hope that all the projects that we’ve organised throughout our term have brought people hope and happiness. It has truly been an honour to create and serve a community that treats each other with kindness and gives to those who need it most,” she added. 

 

As a long-standing volunteering society, VOLTAGE has no intention of slowing down its acts of volunteerism and hopes that both Johor and NUMed’s communities would continue supporting its future endeavours. These include their annual events, such as Project HOPE, Project Johor Cerebral Palsy (JCP), HIV Awareness Talk, and Christmas Concert.