2006 Visitor Industry Charity Walk
Team Blood Bank of Alaska showed their support on May 5th by taking part
in the 2006 Visitor Industry Charity Walk! It was a 5k course that started
at
the Park Strip at 9th & M, winding along the Inlet to 3rd Avenue, and
then eating their way across downtown, stopping at several food stands
to finish at the Park Strip for desserts, live music, jugglers, clowns,
prizes,
and games.
The BBA team consisted of 26 members:
Margaret
Baker & her daughter
Lindsey Smith & her
daughter
Roy Allen & his wife
Gene Reardon, her daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons
Star Poe & her husband, & friend
Sharon Hall, her daughter & son
David Large
Maria Lackie
Lisa Green
Kevin Curtis
Jean Krupa
Kim Ruechel & friend
Casey Amos
Visit their official web site at: www.alaskacharitywalk.org
Harvey
Rookus Retires as Volunteer after over Twenty Years of Service
The Blood
Bank of Alaska honored retiring volunteers Harvey and Wilma Rookus
at a reception
on July 12th. Mr. Rookus, a ten-gallon
donor, started volunteering at BBA in the early 1980’s
after retiring as a surveyor for ARCO. For over 20 years, he
showed up twice a week to help wherever the blood bank needed
him. For the first two years, he helped in the component room
by making platelets. Later, he assisted in shipping and in building
maintenance. Blood Bank employees will greatly miss his cheerful
disposition and the Monday morning joke that he brought to circulate
among the staff. Mr. Rookus was honored with a plaque of appreciation
from the Blood Bank of Alaska. Mrs. Rookus, a past volunteer,
was presented with a dozen roses.
Goal ChalleNGed—and
Met!
An earlier story described the Alaska Military Youth Academy’s ChalleNGe
Program and its participation in blood drives at our Anchorage
Center, thanks
to adult team leader Ron Forbes. Saturday, June 5th, marked a special milestone
for Mr. Forbes and his current class of ChalleNGe cadets: Since its first blood
drive on 18 August 2001, the Alaska Military Youth Academy cadets have donated
just over 20 gallons of blood through our Anchorage Center. What makes this
milestone even more inspiring is that the overwhelming majority of cadets had
never donated blood before entering into the ChalleNGe program.
The
Blood Bank of Alaska congratulates Mr. Forbes and the Alaska
Military Youth Academy for reaching such a lofty goal. More importantly, we’d
like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the cadets and
leaders who have so selflessly donated blood to assist patients
across the state.
A Scout is ...
On Saturday, May
1st, the Western Alaska Council
of the Boy Scouts of America held its annual Scout-o-rama at Delaney Park
Strip in Anchorage. This event was designed as a fun and informative
open house to showcase Scout skills. This year new mosquitoes
joined the more traditional insects around the campsite--the
Blood Bank of Alaska’s LIFEmobile parked adjacent to the
Scout-o-rama grounds along 10th Avenue.
Buddy, the Anchorage Center’s mascot, “dropped” in
to visit Cub Scout and Boy Scout sites, reinforcing the Council’s
goal of one donated unit of blood for each Scout unit participating.
Twenty-three Scouters registered to donate that day, from whom
the Blood Bank received 15 good units. Plans are already in the
works for including the LIFEmobile at next year’s Scout-o-rama;
the Blood Bank will “be prepared”!
Champions for Charity
Ina Kristiansen,
an outstanding young woman who had an immense love of soccer
and life, died in 1992 at the age of 22. Each
year since, the Goldstrykers soccer team, for which she played,
has sponsored a Tournament in her memory, honoring her life and
her spirited battled against leukemia. In addition, the Ina K.
Tournament raises money for the Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society,
the American
Cancer Society, and the Blood Bank of Alaska, and
provides scholarships through the Alaska Goldstrikers Soccer
Club Scholarship Fund.
Over the course of the two-day
tournament, each competitive team was challenged to line up
donors at our
LIFEmobile parked
at DelaVega fields. This year’s winner, Goldstrikers
87 Boys, received a team pizza party from Pizza Hut and free
admission
to H2Oasis. At the presentation ceremony held on Saturday,
June 5th, the Blood Bank of Alaska was honored to receive a
check
in the amount of $1500 and in turn acknowledged the 16 donors
who took time to donate blood during the Tournament.
The Blood
Bank would like to thank the Goldstrykers soccer club and Tournament
organizers for continuing to include us in their
fundraising efforts – we are truly honored to participate
in the event that bears Ina Kristiansen’s name.
Saturn Donors Day
Saturday, February
14th was not only Valentine’s Day this
year; it was also Saturn National Donor Day. In fact, it was
the seventh annual national campaign to encourage blood, marrow
and blood stem cell, organ and tissue donation. The Saturn Corporation
and the UAW sponsor what is billed as the largest one-day lifesaving
donation drive in the United States.
Thanks to Sales Manager Chuck
Coleman, Saturn of Anchorage sponsored a blood drive at our
Anchorage Center from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
on Feb. 14th, with special prize drawings each hour and free
t-shirts for all donors. Fifty-five donors answered the call
to donate, and we were able to collect 42 useable units, which
will ultimately save up to 126 Alaskans in their time of need.
Displays also provided information from the Blood Bank about
the National Marrow Donor Program Registry; and from LifeAlaska
regarding organ and tissue donation.
This year, organizers surpassed
their goal: they have collected 50,000 units of blood nationwide
since Saturn and its UAW partners
launched the first Donor Day in 1998. For our part, the Blood
Bank of Alaska truly appreciates Saturn of Anchorage and their
commitment to assisting those in need throughout Alaska.
Blood Bank’s Gone
to the Dogs!
The Blood Bank of Alaska
went off to the races, collecting the “gift
of life” during the 2004 Fur
Rendezvous Festival.
After enjoying world-famous dog mushing, spectators were invited
to stop by to donate blood inside the
LIFEmobile. Warm fingers, toes , and feelings prevailed; donors
knew that they had made a vital difference in someone’s
life.
Our coach parked in front
of the Egan Center on Saturday and Sunday, February 28th and
29th, during the World Championship
Sled Dog Races; and on Saturday, March 6th, for Iditarod ceremonial
start and the Empty Bowl Bean-a-Fit for Bean’s Café.
Over the course of the three-day blood drive, teams were able
to collect36 units from 55 donors, ultimately saving the lives
of up to 108 Alaskans!
We thank all who “pawsed” to “pull together” for
the good of Alaskans from Anchorage to Nome!
Blood Bank of Alaska - A Winning
Team!
Moose Lodge 1534 celebrated Super Bowl XXXVIII a day early
by supporting our life-saving team. On Saturday, January 31st,
62
donors came to donate blood and munch on snacks while watching
classic football videos. These FANtastic donors also got to register
to win some great sports merchandise prizes, including Patriots
and Panthers caps, and NASCAR and Cardinals clothing. The real
winners, however, are the 150 patients at 26 hospitals across
the state of Alaska who can now receive the Gift of Life.
Our thanks to Ed Hall and
Moose Lodge 1534 for sponsoring the drive; to Tastee-Freez,
Arctic Roadrunner, and Excalibur Sports
for donating great prizes and giveaways; to Odom Corporation
for donating the “super” decorations; and to Blockbuster
Video, Eagle River, for donating the selection of football videos.
January Beach Party 2004
On Saturday, January 24th, the Blood Bank in Anchorage hosted
our first January Beach Party, which was, like our Summer Solstice
event, an appreciation day and blood drive. Under the gaze of
stuffed monkeys, to the sounds of Hawaiian music and to the swaying
of imitation palm trees, sixty-two donors added to our blood
supply on hand.
After that,
they dug in to enjoy tropical food – pineapple,
coconut, spiced taro chips and more - on a table graced with
Hawaiian scenes and a handsome floral arrangement donated by
Uptown Blossoms, which was won by a lucky donor at the end of
the day. Another prize of classy beach attire was donated by
Classic Woman and Portfolio. In appreciation of the support recently
given by H2Oasis, two full adult day passes were purchased as
the final prize.
We’d like to thank
food donors New Sagaya, Carrs Abbott Loop and Carrs Aurora
in addition to cash donors Alaska Industrial
Hardware and Weaver Brothers. We hope that next year in cold,
dark January 2005, we have double or triple the number of donors
for this fun event! Remember to look for the Beach Party then;
it will be advertised on the web, radio, and newspaper and in
some of our mailings.
On Saturday,
June 7th, the Blood Bank of Alaska participated in the 11th
annual Alaska Run for Women. In its history, the
AKRFW has raised over one million dollars for breast cancer
research. This year, more than 4,500 women took part in either
the five- or one-mile runs, and the LIFEmobile was there. Our
mini-blood drive for friends and families of participants was
enthusiastically welcomed by the race committee, and mentioned
on the AKRFW website.
The first weekend in June was busy one for the Blood Bank of Alaska, its LIFEmobile,
and phlebotomy teams. Not only was the LIFEmobile part of the Alaska Run
for Women at Mulcahy Stadium, it was featured in the Ina K Memorial Soccer
Tournament, sponsored by the Alaska Goldstrikers Soccer. 
