Dinos family chip shops have been a proud supporter of so many community initiatives and voluntary organisations, and they want to highlight some of those incredible people.
This week, Dinos want to spotlight the unsung heroes that are the Blood Bike riders. Not many people know about them, but Dinos is proud to support these volunteers as they deliver literal life saving blood across the city – when we say Cork runs on Dinos, this is a true example.
We chatted to a Cork blood biker, who opened up about how rewarding his volunteering role is. Marko Rogulja says he joined Blood Bike South as a way to give back to Ireland.
When Marko first moved to Ireland from Croatia 11 years ago, he felt so welcomed. “I wanted to give something back to the community. I did a bit of research on volunteering, trying to find something that would help others.”
One day, he randomly saw a post on Facebook from Blood Bike South. He immediately knew he wanted to volunteer with them, as he was already a biker. “I knew it would be so much fun. It combines two things I love: biking and volunteering.”
He reached out to the group, and after an evaluation of his riding skills, he was accepted as a volunteer. “I have been doing this for three years now and I love it.”
In Cork, there are roughly 70 volunteer blood bikers. “We cover two main functions. One is city cover. This coordinates the transport of medical goods, like samples, blood, medications and equipment between hospitals, mainly Cork University Hospital, Mercy University Hospital, St Finbarr’s and the South Infirmary.”
The out of town service, meanwhile, matches up with the rest of Ireland’s Blood Bike groups to transport medical goods over longer distances. “If something needs to be transported to Dublin, we meet the Dublin group halfway and they would transport the item the rest of the way. For example, a lot of children are treated in Dublin hospitals. If there is a [sick baby] in Temple Street, and the mother is breastfeeding, we would transport the breast milk halfway. We also transport samples and medications.”
All volunteers must commit to doing at least one shift per month. “Usually volunteers do two or three shifts per month, on average. People will pick the dates that they are available to do shifts on and then a dispatch service coordinates the shifts and the requests that come in from hospitals and other partners.”
Usually, blood bike volunteers work 7pm-7am during Monday to Friday, so that emergency services can focus on providing life-saving care, not transportation, during those times. “On the weekend we have two shifts. One is 7am-7pm and the other is 7pm-7am.”
Marko gets great satisfaction out of this volunteering work. When he attends coffee mornings on behalf of Blood Bike South, people often approach him and tell him about a time they were helped by a blood bike delivery. “That gives you a real sense of the effect we have and the lives we change forever. That is the greatest reward, knowing that what you do, on a humane level, actually affects people and contributes to them living, or improves their quality of life.”
Dino’s family chip shops are a big support to the blood bike volunteers, Marko adds. “We came across them at one of our events. We reached out to them. As the days are getting shorter, we asked them if they would be interested in hosting blood bike volunteers, so they can get a little rest in the evenings, get dinner, a hot cup of coffee.
“They said definitely. Dinos, aside from being a family chip shop, are a community hub. They always make people welcome.”
Cork runs on dinos – at the heart of Cork since 1970. Visit dinostakeaway.ie for more.
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