In July 2017, The Energa Group has established the Kropelka Energii Foundation – a blood donation organisation that responds to the needs of saving lives and health. After all, blood saves lives. The Kropelka Energii Foundation was formed from an informal, employee-owned blood donation campaign, the originators of which were Tomasz Rubanowicz and Piotr Krysiński. Thanks to their passion and commitment, Energa Group employees and their friends collected over 850 litres of blood, including 244 litres in 2016.
We invite you to read the next installment of the “Olivia’s Conversations” series, in which Monika Bogdanowicz presents the creators of the social initiative “A Drop of Blood”, who prove how great the power lies in integrating the community and the willingness to help people in need of support.
Monika Bogdanowicz (Komunikacja Olivia Business Centre): Since when has the topic of voluntary blood donation been present in your life?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: My beginnings in blood donation date back to high school, when I turned 18 and met the minimum requirement to become a donor. One day, after class, I persuaded my classmates to come with me for a while to a stationary blood collection point. I just wanted to get some basic information, and the situation turned out so that I donated blood. It was so well organized that I didn’t have time to think about it, and I was already sitting in the chair and the blood was flowing into the bag. After fifteen years and more than 20 liters, I have very fond memories of that moment. To this day, it has defined the social side of my life.
Piotr Krysiński: Since 2001, the first donation after 20 years of living in fear of the needle. Satisfaction quickly gave way to reflection: why did I wait so long? To date, I have 34 donations, which in my case is 15.1 liters.
Monika Bogdanowicz: Why did you decide to promote the idea of voluntary blood donation?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: In a sense, voluntary blood donation is a lifestyle that also requires proper physical preparation. Apparently, after donating blood, the body feels as if it has run a marathon of 42 km in 5-6 minutes. That impresses me. An Honorary Blood Donor must take care of himself, and when a person is healthy, he or she has a lot of positive energy, which is worth releasing in order to infect others with the idea of helping other people. Anyway, a good model for a satisfying life is worth recommending to everyone, and above all, blood donation rebuilds honor in people, and this is beautiful.
Piotr Krysiński: Once overcome, one’s own fear of the needle, a long period of this fear, a sense of wasted time, motivated one to catch up by encouraging others. Initially, I donated blood after work, until the next donation asked me why I didn’t come before noon, because then my blood could be used for children, which requires more time for processing. I felt like a superplus donor, because this is how only blood with very good parameters is processed.
Fig. Joanna “Frota” Kurkowska, Olivia Business Centre
Monika Bogdanowicz: What were the beginnings of your informal activity in the field of organizing blood donations in your work environment?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: From the moment I joined the company, I have been looking for the Honorary Blood Donors Club within the structures of the Energa Group. It wasn’t easy, because the company is large and scattered around the country. That’s how I was directed to Piotr Krysiński, who was known for involving his colleagues in joint trips to the RCKiK station. We talked, took up the challenge and organized the first mobile blood donation campaign with the fear that there would not be enough volunteers (at least 20 people). Much more came than the ambulance could hold. And so it has remained to this day, and we do our best to make sure that all participants are satisfied. Together with Donors and Friends, we develop this beautiful idea of helping people based on the needs of the Blood Bank.
Piotr Krysiński: After a successful donation, you will receive a package of chocolates, in a decorative box with an inscription thanking you for donating blood. Taking it to work to show and offer the contents was a good foundation for promoting blood donation. After obtaining the consent of my superiors, I started to organize trips to the nearby RCKiK during my working hours. The returning group with a chocolate bar was greeted with appreciation and enthusiasm. You could feel the positive energy!
Monika Bogdanowicz: How do you manage to combine social activity with professional work? What is the biggest challenge and what gives the greatest satisfaction in combining these activities?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: Oh, the beginnings were difficult. Piotr had to take a vacation, while I had to work overtime to be able to devote 100% of the entire action, which lasted up to 7 hours. It would be much simpler if the Labour Code gave every employer the tools to delegate their employees for the purposes of employee volunteering. Running such a foundation as Kropelka Energii, we feel very obliged to each of our Donors and Partners of the campaign, who have trusted us and support us in various ways. We devote our private time to the development of the Foundation after working hours to an unlimited extent. It is a social work, but it requires high-quality management of many aspects, according to project standards, as in a normal enterprise. The biggest organizational challenge is to reach potential donors with our messages about the campaign. Without the help of Olivia Business Centre, there would not have been so many participants of the campaign.
Monika Bogdanowicz: What gives you the greatest satisfaction in developing this campaign?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: The greatest satisfaction is the large number of satisfied donors waving a box full of chocolate (laughs). It is also satisfying to see a smile on the face of a participant of the action when he comes out of the ambulance after donating blood and says that he wants more! And also when someone casually thanks us for helping us with a blood donation. After these few human gestures, we have our own batteries charged and we are highly motivated for the next action.
Monika Bogdanowicz: What impact did the presence of the project have on the development of the “Kropelka Energii” initiative and on the number of litres of blood collected?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: It is crucial, because from the very beginning our actions have been gathering an increasing number of participants in a natural way, as the OBC complex expands. At that time, the managers understood our initiative and were 100% committed to providing parking spaces for ambulances, providing access to electrical infrastructure for emergency power supply, tables and chairs, and security to ensure the safety of participants.
Monika Bogdanowicz: The year 2017 ends for you with the beginning of a new chapter in the history of your activity for the idea of blood donation. The Kropelka Energii Foundation was established, which inaugurated its public activity with a gala at the Olivia Sky Club. What new goals do you have for the coming 2018?
Tomasz Rubanowicz: From the very beginning, we have had a lot of ideas for the development of Kropelka Energii. We are primarily inspired by our Donors, who report their comments to us on an ongoing basis, and we implement them in life. It’s the best cooperation, because we don’t do anything by force. Thanks to this, many Givers and Friends are involved in the development of the Energy Droplet. This year, we reached the point where we had to make a final decision on whether or not to set up a foundation. And today we can say that it was one of the best ideas. On December 6, 2017, at Olivia Sky Club, we had the opportunity to present many of our activities, and above all, to solemnly thank the Donors for donating blood, handing them the Badges of Meritorious Blood Donors of the Polish Red Cross. About 50 people took part in the meeting. We would like to thank the Donors for their support and dedication to the idea. This is a huge help in saving the health and lives of many people every day.
In the New Year, we would like to exceed 1000 liters of blood, this is an ambitious plan, so for this purpose we will increase the number of shares to six. We are currently agreeing on the dates of the action with RCKiK, which will be published on our Facebook and LinkedIn social media profiles. Additional information can be obtained by writing an e-mail to: ekropelka@energa.pl
See you at the next blood donation campaigns in 2018!
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Tomasz Rubanowicz – a graduate of the Military University of Technology in Warsaw (2006) in the field of Mechatronics. He completed postgraduate studies in the field of innovative project management at the University of Gdańsk. Currently, he is an employee of the Energa Group, where he pursues his professional goals in the field of wholesale trade in electricity generated also from Renewable Energy Sources. For several years, he also conducted scientific research at the Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering of the Gdańsk University of Technology in the field of prediction of the generation capacity of wind farms. Author of many publications in this field. His areas of scientific research and professional interests include: the application of artificial intelligence methods for the purposes of forecasting the dynamics of renewable energy sources generation, the electricity and gaseous fuel market, offshore wind energy technology. For over 15 years, he has been socially active in various initiatives, and recently involved in the development project of the Kropelka Energii Foundation.
Piotr Krysiński – born in 1963, a graduate (1989) of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Gdańsk University of Technology, majoring in Electrical Devices and Machines. He has been involved in the energy sector since 1996, starting his career at the Gdańsk Power Plant, currently an employee of the Energa Group. Hobbies: travelling, technology, DIY. Since 2001 active blood donor, promoter and organizer of the Kropelka Club at ELNORD SA.
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About Blob of Energy
Over the course of five years of operation, Kropelka Energii has collected over 850 litres of blood. The project was initiated by Piotr Krysiński and Tomasz Rubanowicz, employees of the Energa Group. It is over 1900 donations – 450 ml each – made during 20 ambulance campaigns organized at the Olivia Business Centre in Gdańsk. On average, 140 donors take part in them, including about 20 first-time donors. The number of people willing to share this priceless gift is constantly increasing. In 2017, 735 people participated in 5 “Kropelka Energii” collections, donating 273.1 liters of blood (including 464 men and 143 women). This is 66 people and 29.7 litres more than in 2016. The collected blood was sent to hospitals for surgery and transfusions for cancer patients.
A drop of energy in numbers:
- 20 – this is the number of collections with the participation of RCKiK ambulances since 2012
- 47 – this is the number of people transported by the Energa Group to WCKiK by electric vehicles
- 490 – this is the number of women who donated blood in all campaigns
- 867 – this is the number of litres of blood collected by “Kropelka Energii” since the beginning of its activity
- 887 – this is the number of people who cooperate with the Foundation on a permanent basis
- 1438 – this is the number of men who donated blood in all actions
- 1928 – this is the number of donations of 450 ml each
- 2550 – this is the number of participants in the campaign so far
