Because of the dismal response, no award will be made this year and the trophy will be given next year, if the response improves, that is.

The two organisations that came forward were the Leo Club of Singapore Metropolitan and Netball Singapore.

Said Ms Carol Teo, 28, a spokesman for the society, which was appointed the national blood-donor recruiter in April this year: 'We thought it would be a good idea because youth organisations have a lot of activities during the holidays.'

The society is trying to increase the number of youth donors by 5 per cent, up from the current 15 per cent, made up of mostly tertiary students.

Ms Teo also said that there was a big shortage of blood last month due to the school holidays. Also, the period saw an increased number of traffic accidents.

Blood donated nationwide last month was 15 per cent short of the 5,410-pint target.

But that's not new.

Blood-bank statistics show that there was a shortfall in five out of six months this year.

Said Ms Teo: 'It's not that people do not want to donate. During a crisis, response is very good.'

Mr Ix Shen, 30, Channel U artiste and ambassador for the blood-donor programme, said: 'Scheduling and finding time to donate blood is also a problem.'