Call to Donate by Sri Lanka Insurance an outstanding success

The Call to Donate campaign, launched by Sri Lanka Insurance on 1 November, has become an outstanding success, attracting over 500,000 missed calls within the short space of two weeks, long before its deadline of 30 November.   

This has enabled Sri Lanka Insurance to reach over 500,000 people to engage in this noble cause by taking a few minutes of their time to spread compassion. In return, it will make a donation of Rs. 5 million to the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama towards a much-needed CRRT machine. “The overwhelming response for Call to Donate shows that it has managed to attract the attention of the public, creating a wave of support and awareness about the needs of the Cancer Institute and the patients receiving treatment there,” a spokesperson for Sri Lanka Insurance said. 

The Call to Donate project used the novel mechanism of a ‘missed call’ to get public involvement for the project. People could give a missed call to the number ‘1357’ and for every such missed call, SLI donates Rs. 10 towards the Cancer Hospital. The caller doesn’t have to make a financial contribution. 

The beneficiary of the project would be the children’s ward of the Cancer Hospital. “A team of doctors from the National Cancer Institute including its Senior Consultant in Clinical Oncology Dr. Damayanthi Pieris, who is also President of the Sri Lanka College of Oncologists, and Dr. Deepal Perera, Consultant Paediatrician, had identified the needs of the Cancer Hospital. Accordingly, one of the most vital necessities was a CRRT (Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy) machine which will support critical cancer patients with their kidney functions. Therefore, we decided to donate a CRRT machine and essential medicines,” the spokesperson said. 

The first Call to Donate campaign, which was introduced by Sri Lanka Insurance in November last year, attracted 350,000 missed calls, enabling SLI to donate Rs. 3.5 million towards the Cancer Hospital. Its success prompted the organisation to expand it further to 500,000 calls during this second phase. SLI donated a CPAP machine worth Rs. 775,000, prosthetic limbs worth Rs. 1.8 million, and much-needed medication for cancer patients during the first phase. The CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine allows cancer patients suffering from sleep apnoea to breathe easier during sleep. The Cancer Hospital wasn’t equipped with such a machine earlier.