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Sierra Leone faces critical blood shortages reliant on family replacement and paid donors, contributing to high maternal mortality. Traditional top-down blood drives have failed to build sustainable voluntary donor bases due to mistrust and logistical barriers. We developed 'Gi4SaveLife’, a community-led model to foster local ownership and sustainable donation. Implemented in Kono and Kenema districts, this quality improvement initiative established community 'hubs’ led by local volunteers responsible for peer-to-peer education and mobilisation. We conducted a baseline survey to identify barriers, followed by monthly blood drives using non-monetary incentives. Data on collection volumes, donor demographics and costs were tracked over 8 months. The initiative collected 539 units from 376 unique donors, moving from zero voluntary donations at baseline to a consistent supply. Crucially, 43% (161) were repeat donations, indicating a committed donor pool. The cost per unit decreased by 40% compared with standard NGO-led models. Key motivators included altruism (71%) and social recognition (52%). Gi4SaveLife demonstrates that a community-led approach, grounded in ownership and trust, can establish a cost-effective, sustainable pipeline of voluntary donors in low-resource settings. This model offers a scalable framework to bolster national blood transfusion services by bridging the gap between communities and health facilities.