L&T reminds firms of their social responsibility

CHENNAI:  Parthasarathy, an employee of L&T, Chennai, began donating blood when he was just 15. His parents were against the idea of blood donation. But, that did not stop him. Infact, he went ahead and set a record by donating blood for the 55th time at the two-day blood donation camp organised by L&T in association with the Indian Red Cross Society at the L&T ECC campus, Chennai on Wednesday.“It is a noble contribution that you can make to the society. It will save lives. Blood donation is also good for health as the body will be replenished with fresh blood. I think everyone should come forward and donate blood,” he said.The summer season is regarded as the “drought time” by the blood banks which run dry due to increase in number of surgeries. Corporate giants like L&T, Nokia, Hyundai and Ford have come forward to organise blood donation camps to meet the demands of blood banks in Chennai.Gopi kannan, Corporate Communications, L&T, said that there is always a shortage for blood in the city during summer. On one hand, people prefer to have their surgeries in summer, which is a vacation time, on the other, there are less blood donors during summer due to heat which leads to scarcity. “This is wheen L&T helps to meet the demands of the city’s blood banks by organising blood donation camps. This year with more employees coming forward, we expect to set new benchmarks by gathering around 1,000 units,” he said.“L&T has been working with us for the past four years. I would like to urge more corporate to come forward and help the poor and needy by organising blood donation camps,” said Harish L.Mehta, VP, Indian Red Cross Society, Tamil Nadu.In his inaugural address, VS Ramana, GM, Corporate Communications, L&T, ECC division, said, “By organising blood donation camps and engaging in social activities, we want to set an example to other corporates that we as corporate citizens have the social responsibility to contribute to the society.”    Volunteers from L&T, construction wing and Infotech division started pouring in at the blood donation camp that will be held today. The volunteers were presented with a memento as token of gratitude for their contributions. L&T had also won the award of “Largest Corporate Donor” from the Indian Red Cross Society for the last three consecutive years. It is one of the largest camps organised in Chennai.