THE 120,000 players of a popular fantasy online game here called Granado Espada are being wooed for a blood-donation drive this weekend.
The tagline for the drive is: "You don't need magic to save lives". It will be held from tomorrow to Sunday at the red dot design museum and is co-organised by game distributor IAHGames and the Singapore Red Cross.
The drive is part of the Red Cross' efforts to bring in more young blood donors.
IAHGames will be giving donors tokens like limited in-game items for Granado Espada and DVDs of the Fifa Online 2 soccer game.
A "heroic" award comprising exclusive Granado Espada game items will also be given to the group of gamers who donate the most amount of blood. The group's "courageous deed" will be mentioned on the game's website and IAHGames' newsletter.
Ms Elaine Tham, senior manager of the blooddonor recruitment programme for the Singapore Red Cross, told my paper yesterday that "reaching out to the gaming community is a first for the Red Cross".
She added that the collaboration with IAHGames is the Red Cross' latest effort to approach different groups and corporate organisations. Last November, it worked with bloggers for a blood-donation drive.
Ms Tham explained that this new move is linked to the economic downturn. At the end of last year, the number of corporations offering their facilities for blood-donation drives was smaller than that from the same period in 2007.
"We think (the drop in corporate responses) could be due to their focus on challenges presented by the downturn," said Ms Tham.
But she stressed that there is still a need for blood - 350 packets of blood are needed here daily.
Said IAHGames CEO Roland Ong: "In times like these, people may hesitate to donate money, but donating blood costs (just) 60 minutes of our time."
The Market of Artists and Designers, and Settlers Cafe are also helping to publicise the donation drive.
Seasoned Granado Espada player C. Liu, an 18-year-old student, praised the drive: "It helps raise awareness among a large group of gamers who might otherwise not know about blooddonation drives."
kennyc@sph.com.sg
For more information, visit http://ge.iahgames.com
