Notice: In need of all blood types.
Notice: In need of all blood types. 
Kern County had no community blood bank. Blood had to be shipped in from Los Angeles and San Francisco, often taking a full day to arrive far too slow when lives were on the line. Local physicians, including Doctors Coker, Crawley, and Varney, began meeting to push for a nonprofit, community-based blood bank.
Kern Community Blood Bank is officially incorporated as a California public-benefit nonprofit, with one job: protect the local blood supply so patients in Kern County aren’t left waiting.
In 1951, Members of the Kern County Medical Society turned to fellow member C. Elmer Houchin, asking for help securing a permanent site. Through the Houchin Foundation, he donated land on G Street in downtown Bakersfield and an endowment, in memory of his mother, Sarah Alice Houchin, who needed blood transfusions while fighting cancer. The blood bank opened its doors there in April 1951, finally allowing Kern to rely on its own community, not distant cities.
Within a year, the organization’s name was formally changed from Kern Community Blood Bank to Houchin Community Blood Bank, in recognition of the family whose gift made the vision real.
In those early years, donations were collected mostly in glass bottles at the G Street center. There are no mobile buses yet drives happen on folding tables in churches, workplaces, and community halls. When an emergency hit, staff literally called donors at home, sometimes late at night. Recognition clubs like the “10 Gallon Donor Club” help build a culture where repeat donors are local heroes.
In the 1940s, the Kern County Medical Society recognized the need for a blood bank in Kern County, as the lack of one made it challenging to meet the emergency needs of local hospitals. In 1951, society members met with Mr. Elmer Houchin, who, through the Houchin Foundation and in memory of his mother, Sarah Alice Houchin, generously donated land and an endowment fund. This support led to the opening of the blood bank’s doors in April 1951.
Our Truxtun location was built.
Our Bolthouse location was built.
Serving Kern County with 3 mobile units.
In 1988, Houchin outgrew its original footprint and opened a new, purpose-built donor center at 5901 Truxtun Avenue—an 11,000-square-foot medical building designed specifically for blood collection and processing.
As blood banking technology advanced nationally in the early 2000s, Houchin upgraded testing and collection equipment. These upgrades raised the bar on safety for Kern patients.
The William Bolthouse family donated land in the emerging Seven Oaks Business Park so Houchin can build a new, state-of-the-art headquarters and donor center, keeping the organization anchored in the community it serves.
By the late 2010s, Houchin served 11 hospitals and multiple cancer, burn, and transfusion centers across Kern County, welcoming more than 18,000 volunteer donors a year and supplying roughly 8,000 platelets and 30,000 red cell units annually. The work is summed up in a simple truth: “When you give, people live.”
In 2013, Houchin broke ground on Bolthouse Drive, consolidating laboratory, quality assurance, manufacturing, distribution, IT, community development, transportation, and a full donor center under one solar-topped roof.
Within a few years, the Bolthouse headquarters became an anchor for a growing healthcare hub in southwest Bakersfield, surrounded by clinics, dialysis centers, hospice care, and more, placing Houchin at the heart of local medicine.
In 2022, Houchin opened its third donation center in Bakersfield, off Oswell Street. This new location allows us to better serve all of Bakersfield and Kern County.
Today, Houchin is recognized as Kern County’s only truly local blood services provider, with community donors credited with helping save over 3 million lives.
Now, in 2026, Houchin marks 75 years since its founding in 1951. While so much as grown and changed, who we are to our core still remains the same. We’re still a homegrown 501(c)(3), still serving Kern County hospitals and medical centers with blood, platelets, and plasma, still powered by volunteers who roll up their sleeves.
As we look ahead, our purpose stays beautifully simple: to be there when someone in Kern County needs blood, and not a minute later. The work has become more advanced, the buildings larger, the technology smarter, but at the center of it all is the same promise: a steady, reliable blood supply for the patients who are counting on us.
We are committed to caring for our donors just as carefully as we care for our patients. Every visit, every rolled-up sleeve, every first-time donor who walks through our doors is part of the lifeline that keeps this community strong. We will keep working to make donation easier, more welcoming, and more accessible, so that giving feels less like an errand and more like what it truly is an act of generosity that changes lives.
To our community, we remain your local blood center, rooted in Kern County and dedicated to the people who live here. We will continue to show up in neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and places of worship, building the diverse and dependable donor base our hospitals and medical centers need. When the unexpected happens, we want Kern County to know: your blood bank is ready.
And to our donors — past, present, and future — thank you. For decades, you’ve stepped forward in quiet moments and in times of crisis, making Houchin part of Kern County’s history and its safety net. Every unit collected is a story you helped rewrite. As we enter our 75th year and beyond, we carry that trust with us, determined to honor it every single day.
Because when you give, people live — today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.