The need for more blood donors is constant, so special blood drives are organized throughout the year to encourage people to give blood donation a try.  Although it is hard to tell what finally makes those who have been meaning to donate come in to do so, a lot of it depends on “being asked”. Numerous local businesses are helping us make that ask with the Eggstra Special Blood Drive during spring break, April 2-7, 2012, at 5901 Truxtun Avenue.

All week blood donors will be able to pick an egg stuffed with a variety of coupons and prizes, redeemable for free activities, food and beverage items.  All donors will also be entered to win one of four $99 value birthday party packages at the Bakersfield Ice Sports Center, or one of four $25 gift cards for the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.  “We hope this spring fun at the blood bank will help let our donors know how “eggstra special” they are to us, and encourage new donors to become part of our family,” said Carola Enriquez, Director of Community Development. “It is hard to keep donors coming in during vacation times when schedules are disrupted. But our need, particularly for O- and O+ donors, is not taking a break,” she added.

Businesses contributing to the Eggstra Special Blood Drive include: Bakersfield Ice Sports Center, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, McDonald’s, Jersey Mike’s, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Rusty’s Pizza, Sonic, Sport Clips, Camelot Park , and Burger King. Such donor recognition events would not be possible without the support of community partners such as these.

Competition helps inspire Kern County high school students to donate blood each academic year. But it is the students’ passion to save lives that resulted in a record-setting 6,620 units of blood being collected during high school blood drives in 2010-11, a goal that will be exceeded in 2011-12. As we look forward to the many end-of-year blood drives at high schools throughout Kern County, ending with the annual High School Awards Luncheon on May 18, 2012, let’s take a moment to reflect on the 2011 year.

The compelling stories told by students during the 2011 awards luncheon on May 13, 2011 revealed the very personal reasons students rolled up their sleeves and gave the precious gift of their blood to save lives and restore health.

“When I was 15, my best friend was dying from leukemia,” said Ridgeview High School senior Christian Flores, whose story held his high school audience in silent attention. “As sick as she was, she motivated me to be strong. She taught me to have pride in myself and to never give up. “When most people begin their sophomore year in high school, they worry about what they are going to wear the first day of school and how they are going to make friends,” he recalled. “I was worried about what I was going to wear to my best friend’s funeral.  I refuse to believe my best friend is gone. She flows through my heart and in my veins. Every time I donate, everyone is getting a piece of me and a piece of her. So she still lives on, helping others.”

Brandon Magno, 16, was a junior at Ridgeview last year and is the student body president this year. He told the Houchin Community Blood Bank audience that he donates blood because of his older brother. “Many years ago, my brother had a mass in his lung that had to be removed. I was too young to donate at the time, but I knew when I grew up that I would eventually give blood,” Brandon said, adding that high school blood drives bring people together for a good cause. They give student “something special” to do for their community.

Houchin Community Blood Bank, which has helped organize high school blood drives for a decade, hosted the awards luncheon to honor Kern County students for their donations and recognize the “top performing” schools. With competition among the 27 participating high schools fierce, awards are given in three categories: large school with the most donors in their senior class; small school with the most donors in their senior class; and the school with the most improvement.

South High and Ridgeview tied in the “large school” category. South High had won in this category in two previous years and was itching for a third trophy. Frazier Mountain High School won in the “small school” category. Ridgeview also won in the “most improved” category. As winners, each school received a heart-shaped “Key to Your Success” trophy and free lunch coupons for the entire senior class provided by Tahoe Joe’s.

Ridgeview High Ambassadors, Give It Up Luncheon, May 2011

Sixty-four blood drives were conducted at area schools during the academic year. Donations of 6,620 units marked an increase of 38 percent over last year’s high school donations. Houchin Community Blood Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Gallion credits the ability of 16-year-olds to donate blood for much of this increase. These younger students donated 1,634 units of blood. “The number of [participating] schools has increased and the number of drives per school has also increased significantly,” said Stephanie Gibbons, who tracks the program at Houchin Community Blood Bank.

Each school appoints “ambassadors,” who coordinate the blood drives. “I like to help out and organize” these drives, said 2011 ambassador Mariela Tapia, a South High senior entering Bakersfield College to become a diagnostic medical stenographer. “The cause is so important.” “Some people are scared when I ask them to donate,” said Jackie Delgado, another South High ambassador. “Sometimes they say no, but I don’t give up. I encourage them.”

Sponsor Chick-fil-A Honored at Give It Up Luncheon, May 2011

Houchin Community Blood Bank staff members, who help coordinate the blood drives, also arrange “incentives,” including drawings for television sets, dining experiences at local restaurants and t-shirts.

Estimating that every unit of blood donated helps three people, Gibbons told students attending the Houchin Community Blood Bank awards banquet, “You have affected 19,860 lives. You truly represent the future of Kern County and beyond.”

School blood drives are happening each week, and sometimes every day, as the school year draws to a close on the 2011-2012 school year. The latest scores in the high school blood drive challenge are updated regularly until it gets close to the May 18, 2012 awards luncheon.  Then the scoreboard will go dark so the final winning schools are a surprise at the annual luncheon.

We had so much fun celebrating St. Patrick’s Day last year with Granite Construction’s Pot o’ Gold that we are doing it all again on Saturday, March 17 from 9 am to 3 pm.  Thanks to Granite Construction’s generous sponsorship, blood donors will enjoy special treats in the canteen including last year’s hit “Lucky Leprechaun Punch” and cookies.  In case you forget to wear green there will be free Irish saying wrist bands.  Best of all, each donor gets to choose a prize filled envelope.  Some of the prizes are California Lottery Scratchers, so someone really could win a “Pot o’ Gold”! Also, all donors will be entered into a special drawing for a $50 gasoline card and $25 restaurant certificates!

Granite Construction strives to be a good citizen in every community it serves by cultivating “an organization that actively encourages us to be the best of who we are and continuously strives to make a difference in our communities and the world.” We appreciate Granite Construction’s support of our efforts to supply our community with needed blood components through their sponsorship of the St. Patrick’s Day drive.

All of March is Condors month at the blood bank, but we are heading into a “Power Play” now starting with a Houchin information booth at the Condors game on Friday, March 16.  We enjoyed meeting the fans and telling them about blood donation, and all the upcoming fun scheduled with the team. This Thursday, March 22, there is an evening social with Condors players and mascots from 5-8 at the blood bank. “Slap Shot Sliders” will be grilled up and served to donors, who will also be able to spin the KUZZ prize wheel during the early part of the evening, 5:00 to 6:30 pm.  We will also have a special drawing in the canteen for restaurant gift cards.

Not only do blood donors receive vouchers to get in either the Wednesday, March 21 or Wednesday, March 28th games for only $1.00, there are some great, great prizes for three lucky donors. Condors fans are sure to be interested in winning any of the following:  the opportunity to drop the puck at Houchin Night, Wednesday, March 28, 2 of the Best Seats in the House for that same night, or a signed Condors Jersey.  The prize drawings will be held on Monday morning, March 26 so the winners can be notified to attend the Houchin Night game.

Brayden was born on December 1, 2007 and stopped eating and was turning blue just days later. After many tests, it was determined he would need heart surgery because the main artery leaving his heart, the aorta, was not opening fully, restricting blood flow to his body. Brayden had his first heart surgery on December 12.

A second surgery was needed on January 28, 2010, when Brayden was two. Unfortunately, this surgery did not go as well. The procedure itself went well, but Brayden’s lungs “just could not handle the new way his heart was working and he crashed” according to his mother, Brenda. “We lost him for a reported eight minutes, and he had to be placed on life support”, she says. However, the machine that was supposed to act as his heart and lungs also caused bleeding. Brayden was losing significant amounts of blood hour after hour. “The machine that was supposed to save him, was killing him,” says his mother. Brayden’s blood type is A-, and his use was so high, that the family started a blood drive for him.

After 105 units of blood products, weeks upon weeks in ICU and the hospital recovering, and untold infections and setbacks, Brayden finally made it home from Los Angeles.  He “had to learn to live life again” his mother says.  “He could not walk, talk, eat, sit up on his own, he couldn’t even move his fingers. . . He was on 14 medications, oxygen 24/7, and had physical, occupational, and speech therapy three times a week.”

Today, Brayden is down to seven medications and requires oxygen only occasionally. Although the family thought more surgery would be needed in a few years, in July 2011 it was determined there were no more surgeries or medicines available to fix Brayden’s heart condition.  “The muscle on one side of his heart is too strong and has caused Pulmonary Hypertension. . . his doctors believe a heart transplant may be the only way. . .we may be on the transplant list as soon as the summer of 2012,” say his mother.

Brenda says Brayden is currently doing amazingly well, so it is hard to understand the limbo they find themselves in with his heart condition.  She reports life is like a “rollercoaster” right now trying to fathom the medical uncertainties faced by her son.  However, she is grateful the 20 units of platelets, 48 red blood cell units, 25 fresh frozen plasma units, and 12 units of cyro were available two years ago to save Brayden’s life.  To celebrate Brayden’s home-coming two years ago on March 18, 2010, Team Brayden is hosting a blood drive in his honor on Thursday, March 29 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at the blood bank.  In addition, Brenda invites everyone to follow Brayden’s journey on Facebook at Brayden’s Brave Heart while they await word on a transplant. Please support the family’s blood drive on March 29, 2012 at the blood bank. Donors will enjoy pizza along with the usual snacks in the canteen.

For more information on lifesaving organ donation, such as the one needed by Brayden, please visit https://register.donatelifecalifornia.org/register/JJsLegacyGolfTournament, our local link to Donate Life California.

Portions of this article originally appeared in The Bakersfield Californian on February 28, 2012.

By GREG GALLION

The more medically advanced we become, the more we depend on each other for the life-saving gift of blood.

The need for people to step forward to donate whole blood so that their loved ones and neighbors can survive traumatic injuries, sophisticated surgeries and life-threatening diseases has long been recognized. For more than six decades, Bakersfield-based Houchin Community Blood Bank has been matching whole blood donors to people in need.

Less known is the evolving and increasing need for people to donate blood components –  platelets and plasma — that have specific uses. Such components are derived from automated blood collection, or apheresis — a process used to separate platelets and plasma from whole blood.

People are surviving diseases today that were once viewed as death sentences. But this survival depends on people donating a variety of “blood products,” not just whole blood.

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An extra day means extra time to find out how platelets are produced through automated donation, or “apheresis”, at Houchin Community Blood Bank on Wednesday, February 29, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.  Giving platelets does take a bit more time, but those volunteer donors able and willing to do so can provide something unavailable from any other source:  the therapeutic support from platelets needed to help those undergoing treatment for serious health problems like cancer, leukemia, and aplastic anemia.  Platelets have a shelf life of only 5 days, so it is vitally important that a ready supply of donors be on call to keep fresh platelets on the shelves and available to local hospitals and other medical centers.

During Leap Day, knowledgeable staff members will be available to explain what it takes to be an apheresis donor, and how it is possible for only the platelets, or other needed blood components, to be removed, and the remaining fluids returned to the donor. Regular blood donors will be encouraged to “leap over” to the special automated donation chairs at the blood bank, and the general public is invited to come learn more. There will be some “Leaping” fun for all those participating, to include special complimentary frog cookies while they last, and the chance to win one of many cuddly frog toys. A new brochure about automated donation, featuring local donors, will also be available to all those interested in finding out more.

For more information about Leap Day festivities at Houchin Community Blood Bank, call Carola Enriquez at 661-378-6224.

It really is Valentine’s Day all year at Houchin Community Blood Bank, because volunteer donors are giving from their hearts to help others each time they donate. What better gift could there be this Valentine’s Day, or any time all year?

Lots of couples donate, including Carole and Michael Daigle.  Michael is a CPA and realtor, and Carole works with kids at the Bakersfield Police Activities League.  They have two wonderful sons, and a terrific daughter by marriage. Carole is a Trima donor and Michael chooses to do whole blood, because he prefers less time with a needle. He jokes that giving blood is also a way to get the snacks he’s not allowed to have at home.

The couple grew up back east where there was no local blood bank, so they got started donating when a co-worker of Michael’s had a sick child. Carole acknowledges that Trima “takes a bit longer” than giving whole blood, but “can help more people in the long run”.  She would much rather be on the “giving side”, since “any of us could be on the receiving end” of blood, plasma or platelets.  The extra time in the Trima chair allows her to “sit and relax for a while”, something she doesn’t take much time to do at home.

Carole can give more often, but she and Mike do enjoy giving together since they often go for a lunch date after donating. They suggest taking your “better half” in to donate like they do and make it a date.  “It doesn’t hurt, only takes a little bit of your time and you get to laugh with the friendly Houchin staff.  If it wasn’t for everyone making it a fun experience we wouldn’t go nearly as often,” they say.

Another of our donating couples is Randy and Renee Greenlee.  Randy is the Safety Officer for Houchin Community Blood Bank, and Renee is a very proud wife and mother.  Randy first began donating in the service, and tried Trima when his father was hospitalized in Santa Barbara.  “I drove there and donated my first apheresis.  It really hits home when a family member is involved. I’ve been donating ever since.” Renee started donating whole blood when she married Randy 25 years ago.  “After being educated on the importance of donating blood I realized something that takes so little time can save so many lives,” she says.

Because Randy does Trima and Renee whole blood, they don’t often give together, but on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day they both give whole blood in recognition of our veterans and those currently serving in the military.  Randy offers these convincing words to others on the subject of blood donation: “There is no badge, there is no uniform, there is no recognition and there is no other source.”

Randy recommends that other couples consider donating together because, “What better way to serve your community, what better gift to give your neighbor?”  Renee adds: “Is there any better way to save a life than with the one you love?”