On the 23rd, Naoki Maeda and Yoichi Naganuma participated in the "REDS Blood Donation Event 2024 Autumn," a collaborative event with the Red Cross Blood Center, held at AEON Mall Yono. The event was held with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of blood donation and deepening the understanding of blood donation among many people.

The blood donation event was held in two parts. In the first part, the MC was Yuichiro Nagai, an Urawa Reds alumnus, and he held a blood donation quiz with the blood donation promotion character "Kenketsu-chan" and Urawa Reds official mascot "Redia". After that, he interacted with many participants in ring toss and kick target, and the venue was bustling.





In the second part, a talk show was held with Maeda and Naganuma. When asked about their knowledge of blood donation, the two answered, "I've never donated blood before, but I'd like to try." Furthermore, when asked about the blood draw during the medical check-up before the season begins, Maeda frankly stated that he was "scary," while Naganuma said, "Because my veins are thick, the nurses often say that it's easy to stick the needle in." They also touched on the question of whether they could look directly at a needle, asking the audience a question.



Next, a quiz was held to deepen knowledge about blood donation. Questions included "How many people in Saitama Prefecture need blood donations per day?", "What is the most common blood type in Japan?", and "What is the shortest period that blood products for transfusions made from donated blood can be stored for." Through the quiz, participants were able to deepen their understanding of blood donation together with the audience, and once again called for the importance of cooperation with blood donations.





Afterwards, a Q&A session was held with the MC and the audience, where various questions were asked, such as "What made you start playing soccer?", "What do you do with your teammates in your private time?", and "What did you practice in high school?", to which each player answered carefully, interspersed with stories from their own lives.



Finally, a raffle was held for those who donated blood that day. The raffle drew a lot of excitement in the venue, and cheers rang out when the winners were announced. In addition, the two players handed out autographed goods to the winners, deepening their relationship.
Afterwards, a commemorative photo was taken with the 500 spectators who had gathered at the venue, and the event came to a close in great success.







[Yohei Koizumi, Public Relations Officer (Blood Donation Promotion Team Leader), Saitama Red Cross Blood Center]
"Urawa Red Diamonds actively participated in the REDS Blood Donation Campaign 2024 Autumn by creating blood donation awareness posters featuring players, calling for blood donations during the winter when the number of blood donors is low, and appearing and cooperating in events where people could experience blood donation. We believe that this event helped many people understand the importance of blood donation and gave them the courage to take the first step to donate blood. We ask for your continued cooperation in blood donations so that we can steadily deliver safe blood to patients waiting at medical institutions."

[Naoki Maeda]
"I was glad that so many fans and supporters came, and as I didn't know much about blood donation myself, I used this opportunity to learn more.
Actually, I don't like injections, but when I learned that donating blood helps save many lives, I was reminded of its importance.
I would like to actively participate in the future so that I can be of some help."

【Yoichi Naganuma】
"I think it's a great initiative that people who don't know much about blood donation, including myself, can learn about it through events like this.
We also hope that by holding more events like this, knowledge of blood donation will be spread, more blood will be collected, and more lives will be saved."

Book your blood donation here
https://www.bs.jrc.or.jp/ktks/saitama/place/index.html

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]