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.

Win a trip to the newly opened US Freedom Pavilion in New Orleans!

From Saturday, May 18 through Saturday, May 25, 2013 donors will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite branch of the Armed Services during this annual week-long celebration of our military.  One lucky donor will win a fabulous trip for two to New Orleans to see the new World War II Museum and US Freedom Pavilion. The trip is sponsored by Setton Farms. Setton Farms is the local producer of “America’s Best Tasting Pistachios”.

There will be two free barbecues this week.  One is during the Armed Forces Day kick-off, Saturday, May 18 from to 11 am to 1 pm, sponsored by the Bread of Life Church at the Truxtun Donor Center. The other is an evening social on Thursday, May 23, from 5-8 pm sponsored by Jake’s Tex Mex also at the Truxtun Donor Center. Also on Armed Forces Day, the Disabled American Veterans will be greeting donors, and Goin’ Postal will accept old tattered flags for proper disposal and provide replacement flags while supplies last.  We hope to see both regular and new volunteers in to donate during Freedom Week to celebrate the men and women who currently serve, or have served, our country in the military.

This year’s theme is Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care. While the theme might not sound like it relates to our nurses, it does, because without nurses present we cannot draw blood products for human transfusion in the State of California.  Red cells, platelets and plasma obtained from volunteer donors must be overseen by a registered nurse, so nurses are crucial to our ability to support patient needs.

Nurse Bronny has been with Houchin Community Blood Bank for 19 years.  She says: “It’s the best nursing job there is.  It is a great feeling knowing we are doing something so critical to support people’s health.”

We are honored to celebrate the 3.1 million registered nurses in our nation this week, especially the 9 nurses working with us. We rely on their high quality work counseling with donors, their leadership and training of staff, and that special care they show our donors and the blood collections process on every mobile drive and at both donor centers.Thank you to Carlena, Jeri, Shelly, Mandy, Cindy, Carla, Bronny, Katie and Valerie for their service!

Trish pictured by her vehicle with her 12 gallon license plate.

Mothers are the glue that holds a family together. Mothers are celebrated in the month of May, it is a fitting time to recognize Trish Devlin who is almost at her 13th gallon. More importantly, the only time she donates blood is with her family. Trish is not only a mother and a wife that is dedicated to taking care of her family, she also cares for others through her donations. 

Trish began donating because she woke up to a radio plea from us on the day of her daughter Mary’s 4^th birthday party. She did not have a reason to donate but felt, “I have always been healthy and I wanted to share my gift of good health to people who need it.” For her first donation, she took her two daughters, Christina and Mary, to the Truxtun Donor Center. From then on, every time Trish donated she would take them along. “Christina and Mary grew up going to the blood bank and every time we were there, the Houchin staff pampered my girls” said Trish.

At first, her husband John did not donate, because he did not like needles. But as time passed a phlebotomist told him, “if you did like needles, we wouldn’t like your blood.” At that point, and his wife’s dedication, John started donating and now he has 5 gallons to his credit. Since Christina and Mary saw their mom donating, it inspired them to become lifesavers too. They started donating as soon as they could, and now each has donated a gallon. As a family, the Devlins make it a routine to donate together because it’s a special moment they share.

          Besides being a dedicated donor, Trish enjoys word puzzle games and spending time with her family. Every weekend they have game nights and a BBQ. Trish encourages others to donate, “you can’t manufacture blood and, if you’re in good health, then why not donate?”

Before Kylee’s diagnosis she was very active, would swim 20 hours a week and play softball. But one day, when she was out shopping with her mom, she realized she had terrible posture and could not stand up straight. On New Year’s Eve, she found out she had scoliosis. A further MRI discovered Kylee had an unstable neck as well. Her planned surgery will repair these issues. Kylee has had to modify her whole world and learn how to cope with these severe skeletal problems at a difficult time for any young person – adolescence.

Kylee and her family are starting a nonprofit called Scoliosis Strong to help raise awareness about scoliosis and the girls it affects. “The reason I want to have this blood drive, and start a nonprofit organization, is to raise awareness for scoliosis and to comfort girls that have been ripped from their social lives and placed into hibernation, with no one to talk to that’s your age or understand what you are going through”, said Kylee. Scoliosis Strong plans to send care packages to girls suffering from scoliosis, and provide a support group for those coping with scoliosis and facing surgery. To participate, call us at 661-616-2505 or make an appointment online.

Glen started donating because his father needed blood. He was working for the Kern County Fire Department and he asked his Captain where he could donate. This personal need led him to donate to the Kern County Fire Department group code at Houchin Community Blood Bank. From then on he continued to donate because he sees the difference donors make in someone’s life. “Houchin helped my dad, so why not help others?”

When he received his first license plate, Glenn felt very proud and attached it to his car right away.  He believes each license plate represents a milestone achieved and the amount of lives you have saved. He also enjoys seeing our television commercials because, “you get to see the people you have saved, and hearing their stories make you feel good about yourself,” he added.

In his spare time, Glenn enjoys spending time with his six grandchildren, and is a member of the Chevrolet Limited of Bakersfield car club. He owns 1955 and 1956 Chevys. Glen deserves to be recognized as an exemplary community volunteer, not just for Houchin. He volunteers as a track official for Bakersfield College and local high schools, and on May 31, 2013 he will volunteer as a guardian in Honor Flight, an organization that sends veterans to Washington D.C. He encourages other community members to donate because “it’s easy, painless, and you meet wonderful people at Houchin Community Blood Bank.”

During the event, staff members led groups of the public through on tours, including “behind-the-scenes” where blood is manufactured into various components for transfusion, and stored for distribution to local hospitals, cancer centers and similar transfusion providers. “I enjoyed explaining how our computer network supports the work Houchin does in our community,” says Tyler Stafford, Network Administrator. “I was very pleased that the community supported us with their attendance.  All who toured seemed very interested in what we do,” said Rick Roberts, Lead CLS & General Laboratory Supervisor. Michele Burris, who recently joined us as Director of Technical Services, really enjoyed the event and adds: “The tours seemed to open the public’s eyes to what happens to their blood after they give it.”