1 To Educate to SOLIDARITY Devoted to pupils of the 6th grade of elementary schools Vedano al Lambro school year Municipality of Vedano al Lambro Info on,its purposes and its aims

2 INDICE ● AVIS Its purpose and what it is about. The bylaws. ● Donating blood. ● Who the donors are. ● AVIS in Italy. ● AVIS at Vedano al Lambro. ● The values of solidarity and of donating blood. ● A message for Parents.

3 What is it? ASSOCIAZIONE VOLONTARI ITALIANI del SANGUE (ITALIAN ASSOCIATION OF BLOOD-DONORS ) What is its purpose? ● Publicizing the concept of donating and of solidarity. ● Promoting the collecting of blood. ● Safeguarding the health of donors and recipients alike. ● Fostering self-sufficiency. ● Keeping the community informed and seeing that blood is made good use of. An association of volunteers; in fact, both the donors and the executives are volunteers. AVIS

4 From articles of Association AVIS is: non-party, non- confessional. AVIS does not admit discriminations: of sex, of race, of language, of religion, of political faith. AVIS excludes lucrative aims.

5 The gift of blood is anonymous free voluntary responsible associative

6 Donating blood anonymous Donors are not aware of who receives their blood; recipients themselves are not aware of who donated the blood they receive. is

7 Neither money nor honour are foreseen, just inner gratification, deep joy with the consciousness that our deed, humble but heartfelt, can be of help to others. There is no payment for the donating of blood.

8 Donating blood voluntary. It is a personal option. We are not obliged to donate blood. We do so because we put an instrument of invaluable human solidarity at the disposal of the community, hence of others. is

9 responsible act We are aware of our act. We do not wish to cause damage to the recipient, that is why we strive to be in good health. is a Donating blood

10 associative It is by now necessary to donate blood periodically. In so doing, donors’ health is under control and their blood is ‘safe’. Furthermore, associative blood donors have the possibility of leaving their mark on society for the achievement of Self-sufficiency. Donating blood is

11 Who are the blood-donors? with more than 18 years; with more than 50 Kg; in good health; with less than 65 years. They are very normal people: The interview with phisician and special laboratory tests verify every time the ability to the donation.

12 In ITALY Avis has been founded in 1927 in Milano by Dr. Vittorio Formentano. He, with a first group of 17 volunteers, founded AVIS. The volunteers where aviable: to answer to urgent call; to be controlled either in type of blood and in their health; to fight to defeat the plague of blood selling. In 2008: in Italy 1,111,071 donors have given 1,949,793 bags; in Lombardy 230,343 donors have given 487,948 bags (25,02 %); in Milano province the bags collected where with 67,491 donors.

13 IN ITALY 21Regional Council 108Province Council 3166Municipal centers Regional CouncilPopulationmembers donor members donation amount Abruzzo Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia Romagna Friuli Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardia Marche Molise Piemonte Prov. Aut. Bolzano Prov. Aut. Trento Puglia Sardegna Sicilia Toscana Umbria Valle d'Aosta Veneto Italian Total Svizzera Totai

14 Donations of the various AVIS branches in Lombardy subdivided per province – 2008 Province Council Municipal centers donor members donation amount Bergamo Brescia Como Cremona Lecco Lodi Mantova Milano Pavia Sondrio Varese Totale

15 Municipal AVIS of Vedano al Lambro started in In 1999 the objective of donations has been reached. In 2001 the monument to Solidarity has been inaugurated in piazza Repubblica. During 2009 In Vedano al Lambro, the office is in via S. Stefano 71; it’s open to everybody every thursday from 9 p.m. we collected 783 bags of blood from 381 active donors ( 233 male and 148 female ); donors have been 351; 40new donors and 22 retired.

16 ● A Board, made up of 12 members nominated in the course of a member meeting occurring every 4 years, sees to the management of the municipal branch. ● The secretary’s office gets in touch with donors every 3 to 6 months in order to agree upon the date of when they should next donate blood. ● The division carries out promotional activities in order to find new donors; it organizes evenings on medical topics in order to popularize health awareness; it takes an active part in the activities that the diverse associations organize in the area [e.g.: Carnival, The Day of the Disabled – organized by the ‘Friends’ of UNITALSI (Italian National Union for the Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and to International Shrines, etc.)]. Organization and Activities at Vedano al Lambro

17 VALUES of SOLIDARITY and of DONATION Speaking of AVIS, we speak of solidarity. Why? Because solidarity means to join with a moral bond everyone of us to the society we are part of. Our deed, the gift of blood, may save a life. Do not forget that blood is a natural “product”, which cannot be artificially reproduced and is indispensable for life. The blood is renewable and it is therefore possible to deprive ourselves of a small quantity without damages, because the organism restores it quickly.

18 Then we wonder: what we get back? Neither money nor honour are foreseen, just internal satisfaction, a deep joy with the consciousness that our deed, humble but sincere, can help who needs. After every donation we feel ourselves satisfied by the deed done. Remember that: “THE REALLY POOR MAN IS WHO DOES NOT KNOW TO GIVE”. VALUES of SOLIDARITY and of DONATION

19 … KNOW ABOUT BLOOD AND DONATION….… …ask your parent to enter AVIS. Bye and… see you again when you will be 18! …NOW YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO….……

20 AVIS in Vedano al Lambro is present in schools to develop together with the children a path which will eventually lead them to the awareness of solidarity. AVIS is well aware of its duties, which are to support and to urge public institutions. By law, the latter are to see to the education of children. This has lead to the starting up of positive teamwork between schools and the AVIS Association. It is now up to you to go on with what has been sown and to see that what the children have learnt with our visits does not go astray. Become members of AVIS!!! Straightforward examples always teach best. DONATING BLOOD MEANS DONATING SOMETHING INVALUABLE

21 Text and pictures taken from: AVIS pamphlets and manuals To educate to solidarity Project: Mario Brambilla Translation: W.A. Gulia – Oxford Group Tests Correction :Patrizia Lecchi Tecnical Support :Manuele Brambilla Realized for AVIS Vedano al Lambro Via S. Stefano, Vedano al Lambro Tel Cell by: