Thanks for a Great Blood Drive!

The blood drive held on Wednesday in support of Justine Kicks Cancer was a huge success, drawing 91 donors to SC Physicians Immediate Care in Valencia. The original plan was to have a maximum of 60 donors (5 every 30 minutes), but the staff from Childrens Hospital Los Angeles that conducted the blood drive was able to accommodate the overflow crowd and said it was best turnout they’ve ever had for a community blood drive.

The CHLA Blood Drive Bus was full all day.

Donors included friends and family from AYSO 46, William S. Hart Pony Baseball, Canyon Country Little League, SCV Fil-Am Association, William S. Hart and Saugus School Districts.

We also met people that didn’t know Justine but helped the cause because they saw a flyer posted in a store, read it in The Signal or heard her story via word of mouth or on the web site. Some of things that people said to me included:

“We are donating because we also have family members that have the same illness or have cancer.”

“I saw the flyer posted in a store and decided to help out because she is only a child”

“I don’t know Justine but I know the family. I am here to help in some way.”

Goody bags with lots of cool stuff from local businesses were handed out to all the donors. Food was donated for both donors and volunteers and Ron at Mustard Seed Graphics made this cool banner.

There are a lot of people we want to acknowledge and thank for making this event a success.

• The medical staff of CHLA did a phenomenal job with the blood drive, smoothly managing the overflow of donors in 6 hours.
• SC Physicians Urgent Care for letting us use their facilities
• The Hodge family, Alex Ruiz, and Art and Carol Garcia for volunteering their time, creating goody bags for donors, designing banners and flyers, providing snacks and taking pictures.
• Diane at Lady Di’s Cookies (cookies for goody bags)
• Mitch at Newhall Coffee Roasting Company (coffee for goody bags)
• Girl Scouts of SCV (cookies and lollipops for goody bags)
• Dr. Lieberman Dental Office (toothcare kits for goody bags)
• Kinetix Advanced Physical Therapy (pens and stress balls for goody bags)
• Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt (coupons for goody bags)
• Ron at Mustard Seed Graphics (Justine Kicks Cancer banner)
• Le Paris Bakery and Café (pastries and coffee for donors and volunteers)
• Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (chocolate treats for volunteers)
• Physician Partners (provided lunch from Corner Bakery for volunteers)

Thanks again to everyone, especially the donors for supporting Justine. We are fortunate to live here in the Santa Clarita Valley. We didn’t realize how many people come together for one cause. It’s a great community.

Rainel Caranto (right) and Josie Caranto, Justine’s dad and step-mom.

There will probably be more blood drives in the future, but right now we want to focus on platelet donation. There is currently a shortage of blood platelets at CHLA, and donating platelets for Justine is probably the best way you can have a direct impact on her recovery. For donation information, click on the Donating Platelets link at the the top of the page.

Check out more pictures from the event…