The Radio Red Race, aimed at getting Singaporeans to donate more blood and recruiting 10,000 blood donors has been a success.

The campaign was launched by MediaCorp Radio in April last year to mark the 10 th anniversary of its radio newsroom. Newsroom staff had decided on the campaign for a good cause following constant appeals by the Singapore Red Cross to Singaporeans to donate blood.

Past statistics have shown that only 40,000 of the entire Singapore population are blood donors. This represents only 1 per cent of the total population of 4 million, when in actual fact some 65 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood.

So over the past 12 months, MediaCorp Radio's radio journalists promoted the campaign in radio news bulletins in four languages, and at special MediaCorp Radio and Red Cross events. Businesses and community organisations who heard the appeals on air also pitched in to get pledges for the Radio Red Race.

Red Cross spokesperson Ms Elaine Tham says, “There's been good response to the Radio Red Race campaign. More than 15,000 Singaporeans came forward to donate blood for the first time last year, a 70 percent increase. And the Singapore Red Cross also managed to collect more than 78,000 units of blood last year, exceeding its target by 8000 units”.

While the Radio Red Race has officially ended with 10,281 pledges, Mr James Yip , CEO of MediaCorp Radio urged more people to continue to give their blood.   Says Mr Yip, “We've met the count but the race doesn't end here.  Please continue to give the gift of life to help others.”