Under the slogan “Fill the blood bank – fill with culture!” In Lviv, the action “Filling” starts: cultural institutions of Lviv offer visits to plays, exhibitions, concerts and excursions in gratitude for donating blood for military and civilians.
“Filling” is an initiative of the Institute of Cultural Strategy implemented jointly with the Lviv City Council, the First Medical Association of Lviv and the city’s cultural institutions. This action is the response of the cultural community of Lviv to the difficult challenges of the times and aims to draw the public’s attention to the shortage of blood banks and motivate them to donate blood for the military.
“In the information space, we often see messages about the need to donate blood. Of course, such a request for the military is constantly relevant now. At the same time, civilian patients also need blood. Therefore, we in the cultural community thought that now, when our resources, whether voluntary or monetary, may be somewhat exhausted, there are things that are available for implementation by almost everyone. Among them is blood donation. You might think that this is not something extraordinary, but on the other hand, it is a way to help someone in need, and for the donor – to join a common cause, to support another. And my colleagues from various institutions and I thought that we could thank people for their contribution by inviting them to our events,” says Yulia Khomchyn, the initiator of the action and the director of the Institute of Cultural Strategy.
Among the cultural institutions that invite donors to visit their events are: “And People and Dolls” and “Word and Voice” theaters, Lesya Ukrainka Theater, Les Kurbas Theater, First Theater, Lviv Puppet Theater; The Lviv Organ Hall, the “Territory of Terror” museums, the Solomiya Krushelnytska Museum, the Stanislav Lyudkevich Museum, the Frank House, the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, as well as “Ya Gallery” in Lviv, whose founder, Pavlo Gudimov, is the one who came up with the idea of the name of the project.
“After voicing the idea of the campaign, I quickly thought of a name for it. Filling has a double meaning: on the one hand, it refers to the filling of a donor blood bank and, on the other hand, it is a metaphor for spiritual filling. A wonderful bonus of gratitude from cultural institutions for donors,” shares Pavlo.
The donor will have plenty to choose from: a performance, an exhibition, a concert, and some institutions have also prepared gift editions and are ready to conduct a tour. It is also important that not all tickets are for two, or even for a larger number of people (like, say, tickets for children’s performances at the Puppet Theater).
“Despite all the horrors of war, we demonstrate real miracles – miracles of unity, courage, indomitability. Our defenders amaze the whole world with their zeal and fighting skills, and we duly thank them for our support. Wounded fighters arrive at hospitals every day, and we can also help them save their lives by donating blood. The need for donor blood will remain steadily high until victory. At the same time, civilians affected by military operations also need donor blood. Planned urgent operations, oncological diseases, and complicated childbirths did not cancel the war. There has always been a shortage of donor blood in Ukraine, and now this problem has become particularly acute,” says Yulian Golyk, medical director of St. Panteleimon.
At the start of the campaign, which is on February 21, representatives of the partner institutions of the campaign will also donate blood in order to be a good example for the citizens themselves.
To join the action “Filling”, you need:
— Prepare for blood donation. Carefully read the absolute and temporary contraindications to blood donation and make sure that you can donate blood. A few days before the donation, it is important to follow certain dietary rules. All the details are here: https://www.donor.ua/pages/category/1.
— Visit the City Blood Bank of the First Medical Association of Lviv at Mykolaichuka Street, 9. To donate blood, the donor must have a passport and identification code with him (if an ID card, then a certificate of the place of registration). Blood sampling takes place by appointment: +38 (066) 018 09 19 or +38 (067) 118 09 19.
— After the donation, the volunteers at the location will hand the donor a “Replenishment” flyer, and the donor will be able to choose from the list the cultural institution and event he wants to attend. One donation is one flyer. Depending on the event, the flyer may include attendance for more than one person. The selected date and event will be indicated on the flyer, and in the future it will be an entrance ticket to the event.
— When visiting the selected event, you must present the “Filling” flyer.
The promotion will last for two weeks, from February 21 to March 7, however, the organizers do not rule out that the project may be extended for a longer period.