In recognition of April as National Volunteer Month, we asked our four Community Development Account Managers to select volunteers to recognize for their ongoing service to Houchin Community Blood Bank. Meet their choices:
Pat and Pastor Scott Pearson
Scott Pearson for Publicizing Our Mobile Drives in Taft, by Tracy Hunter
Scott Pearson is the Pastor of the First Baptist Church and has long been committed to promoting the Taft Community Blood Drives. Scott has been instrumental in distributing posters and flyers throughout the Taft community, including to his congregation. He never fails to provide the Taft Independent with the drive dates and follow up information on the drive results as well. He has been a vital contributor to the success of our Taft Community drives for many years. His contribution has surely made the difference in each life touched by a single blood donation. Thank you Pastor Scott Pearson!
Claire Frisch greets a student
Claire Frisch for Work with High School Drives, by Stephanie Gibbons
Claire Frisch started volunteering with Houchin about 7 years ago. She was a faithful donor for many years, donating from 1991 until she was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. That didn’t stop Claire from volunteering at our High School mobiles. She only took off a few months and was back to assist at the high schools. Claire’s mission during her retirement is to stay busy, and being involved with the blood bank promotes her passion for blood donation. Besides her work with Houchin, Claire is also a dedicated volunteer with the Guild House and Mercy Learning Center. Her faithfulness and reliability can’t be measured. Claire is a huge asset to us and always gives her best each time she volunteers. Thanks Claire!
Joe and Mimi Audelo
Mimi Audelo and Sean Collins for Boots & Badges, by Hania Jakyma
Mimi Audelo, Event Director at Adventist Health, wrapped her arms and heart around the idea of holding regular scheduled blood drives as San Joaquin Community Hospital for all staff members as well the public. She continues to spearhead those drives, but before long, Mimi had a vision of a friendly competition between Kern County Firefighters and Bakersfield City Firefighters to be held during National Burn Awareness Week.
Sean Collins and Ray Pruitt at Boots & Badges 2013
Mimi contacted Sean Collins, Public Information Officer and Fire Captain with the Kern County Fire Department. They both came to the table to develop the idea of holding a county wide week long blood drive competition to include all public agencies for National Burn Awareness Week. This developed into a competition between Fire / Emergency Medical Services vs. Law Enforcement, and the annual drive is now known as Boots & Badges. Their collective vision and connections in Kern County made it happen in February 2012, and we look forward to the third annual drive in 2014. Thank you Mimi and Sean for all you do to ensure Kern County has a healthy blood supply. You are truly LIFESAVERS!
Amy Covert greets donor Jeffery Nagels
Amy Covert for Ridgecrest Mobile Support, by Christina Scrivner
We take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Amy Covert, one of our special volunteers in Ridgecrest! For those who donate there, Amy is a very familiar and always smiling face at the local blood drives. Amy has volunteered for almost 100 blood drives in the last 4 years! Although Amy is a busy mom, and SSUSD Board Member, she continues to contribute to our effort. At our Ridgecrest blood drives, she can be seen handing out t-shirts and water, taking donors out to the bloodmobile, and posting to Facebook to encourage all of her friends to come in to donate. Amy is instrumental in keeping our busy blood drives flowing smoothly. Thank you Amy for making such a difference with our Ridgecrest mobile drives!
We appreciate ALL the volunteers who make our work possible throughout Kern County. Thank you for your service to our community.
The new Bolthouse Donor Center at 11515 Bolthouse Drive just off Buena Vista Road opened for operation on Monday, February 11, 2013. Introductory hours for the new facility were developed based on input from donors via on-line and paper surveys distributed in the fall of 2012. More evening and early morning hours are offered as a result.