Find the hero in you. Donate Blood >
Call 888.393.GIVE (4483)
Find the hero in you. Donate Blood >
Call 888.393.GIVE (4483)
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BCP has many departments and hundreds of employees. Do you know the function of each department? Or the role of many of our staff members? Each month, we’ll spotlight a staff member or department. Last month we interviewed BCP’s Payroll Technician, Sue Cleary. This month, we’d like to introduce you to Tim Somera!
What’s your job title? And what do you do?
Special Donations Representative, and I assist with autologous, directed, and therapeutic donors. I also provide service to, well, basically, everyone who needs assistance pertaining to accomplishing BCP’s mission statement.
Describe your typical day at the Irwin Center.
A typical day at BCP would be: (1) following up on phone messages & emails; (2) entering autologous & directed orders into Safetrace; (3) making appointments for autologous, directed, and therapeutic donors and entering them into eDonor; (4) answering calls internally & externally and providing proper assistance to inquiries; (5) tracking autologous and directed orders and ensuring donations are available in time for surgeries, and; (6) following up with the doctor’s office regarding status of donations.
What do you like best/most about your job?
The warm feeling I get at the end of the day knowing I’ve helped others.
What are the challenges?
Coordinating with the doctor’s office and making sure orders are complete. Also, scheduling donations within the time-frame allotted and having them sent to their destination in a timely manner.
How do you overcome them?
By following through, whether rain or shine.
How long have you worked at BCP?
Nine years in June!
Thank you Tim for your hard work and dedication to the lifesaving cause of blood donation!
by Ashley Messick, Social Media Specialist, blood bank enthusiast, and conference attendee
This week I had the incredible opportunity to attend the America’s Blood Centers Conference in Orlando, Florida. Now I know that many people wouldn’t think that a blood banking conference would be all that exciting. But when you work for such a unique nonprofit as a blood center, it’s great to have a chance to connect with others who work in your field and talk about how to better serve blood donors and recipients - and spread the word about the wonderful cause of blood donation. Plus did I mention it was in sunny Orlando?
To add to my excitement (and I’ll admit nervousness) I got to present to the other conference attendees about how BCP is using social media to connect with our donors, to talk about saving lives by giving blood, and to share funny YouTube videos. That last part I tried to keep to only a slide or two.

1. It’s a place to share stories about those whose lives were helped or even saved by blood donations. Be it our Monday posts thanks to UCSF Hospital about the patients currently using blood donated by our donors, or the stories that all of you share about your own life or your fathers, sisters, coworkers, and friends who have been saved thanks to blood donation. It is a testament to the true power of blood donation as a way to touch people’s lives.
2. It’s a forum to ask and answer questions. We hear from people wondering how often they can donate blood, how they can boost their iron, why we are in need of O negative donors, and what about those tattoos? We love to answer your questions and we love it when other people chime in with their own advice.
3. It’s a page that encourages you to talk to one another. One of my favorite interactions on our Facebook page was about a year ago when a person who had never donated commented that she was working up the courage. I loved seeing our other donors reactions, their encouragement and even offers to go along to the blood center with her! That fan of our page donated blood for the first time soon after, and I like to think those encouraging words helped make it a little less frightening.
4. It’s a place to find out how BCP fits into your community—be it as a partner with your local hospital or favorite business like Sports Basement, a post about blood drives with fun restaurants like Balboa Cafe or Pasta Pomodoro, or a note about what other Northern California organizations and causes are up to, like the California Transplant Donor Network or The Power of Two documentary.
5. It’s a place to be a hero. My favorite posts are from donors who tell us when they have given blood, why they enjoy giving blood, that they have made an appointment to give, or how good they feel to be saving lives. We always say that our mission is to connect blood donors who give the generous, lifesaving gift of donating blood with the recipients who need this gift. We hope that our page is just one more step in that process.
What are your favorite things about connecting with us on Facebook? What would you like to see us do more of?
Thank you for finding our page and even more, thank you for being a hero by donating blood!
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