Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta will join a host of ministers who donated blood on Thursday, August 21, and said he prefers donating blood to throwing an ice bucket on his head, a new manifesto gesture that has been spreading among Romanian stars.

Four ministers, the Foreign Affairs, Finance, EU Funds and Justice Ministers, donated blood on Thursday, to raise awareness for the blood deficit during summer. Ponta said he will donate blood on Friday, while in Tulcea, to show that blood donation is needed everywhere across Romania, not just in Bucharest.

The Health Minister too wanted to donate blood, but he was rejected for taking antibiotics for a cold. The Bucharest Blood Transfusion Center had 400 donors yesterday, 30 to 40 percent more than regularly.

A new challenge has become popular in Romania too: the ice bucket challenge. This started after many American stars have done so, part of a campaign raising money for the ALS Association, to research the motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

editor@romania-insider.com