This Chanukah, Australian Friends of Magen David Adom are raising funds for the first underground and shielded Blood Bank in the world, which will keep Israel’s vital blood supplies safe.
he new National Blood Services Centre is the most important strategic security project in Israel today. While Australia has over 96 permanent blood donation centres across the country, Israel has only one, built in 1987 on the Tel Hashomer Hospital campus.
In March 2019, two rockets launched by Islamic terrorists in Gaza struck, just a few kilometers from the current Blood Bank. A slight change in direction and Israel’s entire national blood supply would have been destroyed. This real and serious threat is why MDA committed to build a state of the art, missile proof facility which has been designated as a strategic priority for the State of Israel.
The new Centre will be a massive 51,100 square metre campus located on 2.3 hectares in Ramle, in central Israel.
Blood Bank construction is on track for completion by the end of 2021
To protect the blood supply, the three critical floors dedicated for blood storage, testing and processing will be underground, shielded and armoured to withstand the impact of a rocket or missile attack or earthquake.
A sophisticated air filtration system will protect the facility against chemical or biological warfare and the latest Israeli technology will protect against cyberattack.
This Centre will serve Israel’s blood processing and banking requirements for the next 30 years, doubling the capacity for blood processing from 250,000 to 500,000 units per year, expanding research laboratories for transfusion medicine, and housing Israel’s Rare Blood Archive, National Cord Blood Bank. It will house a new National Human Milk Bank, National Blood Reference Laboratory, a training wing, the huge main supply inventory warehouses for MDA Emergency Medical Service operations nationwide, and a Blood Vault protected by a massive reinforced concrete and steel shell that will store the national reserve blood inventory.
MDA’s National Blood Services provides 100% of the blood supply needed by the IDF and 97% of the blood supply for Israel’s population.
The project’s budget is $US130 million, of which $109 million has been raised to date. The government of Israel recognises the critical importance of this project and has donated the land on which the complex is being built. MDA desperately needs to raise the remaining costs to ensure this vital facility is completed on time.
We need your support and tax deductible donation to ensure the safety of Israel’s blood supply for the next 30 years.