The seven-year old Uthiram Foundation is now 6,800-donor strong. Started as a round-the-clock blood provider for needy people, the Foundation assures arranging blood within 20 minutes soon after receiving the request.

The Uthiram Foundation of Sri Annai Karangal Social Welfare Organization, based in Coimbatore, has donors across the State.

President of the organisation, Gobinath said: “We started with a small group of blood donors and in the last seven years we have reached 6,800. On an average as many as 12 units of blood is being donated to people who need blood urgently.”

The organization does not conduct any blood donation camps. It updates its membership list every four months.

Gobinath said: “Our operations are handled by 120 active functionaries across the district, and four coordinators including me. The functionaries will check the requests, whether it is a fake or genuine and soon after confirming it, we begin to find the available donor and also send them to the spot as soon as possible. Social networking sites help us to do the work quickly.”

According to him, the promotional activities of the organisation help draw more donors.

“We have put up posters of our organisation and contact numbers at all saloons and other public places. It helps people seek our help for blood in an emergency. It also helps people who are interested in joining as blood donors to contact us,” he added.

He also said, “About 20 per cent of our members. Awareness is increasing among women about blood donation. There are donors who belong to the rare ‘hh’ Bombay blood group.”

He believed that many more lives would be saved if people gave up their inhibitions to donate blood.

Those interested can contact Gobinath on 99941-48105, Yuvaraj on 97906-44974, and Prakash on 96552-29925.