You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine

by Angela Woon, Communications Specialist, sun-chaser, proud Malaysian

I don’t like this weather. I am sure if you live in San Francisco, you’ve heard enough squawking about it from everyone else that you don’t need me to chime in. But I am still going to anyway, because my friends have turned a deaf ear to my complaints.This weather plain stinks! Boots, sweaters and coats in “summer” just don’t cut it for me, especially when I hear of my buddies on the east coast complaining about the heat.

So, I am planning my great escape. Ah….palm trees swaying in the warm breeze, feeling the sun’s rays as I lay on the beach sipping my cool coconut juice. I can almost hear the sun beckoning me. I want to wipe that salty sweat off my brow and show off my pedicured toenails in my flip-flops. That’s what life is like for me back home. Unfortunately, home for me is more than 8,000 miles away in Malaysia. Even after many years in the US, I still get homesick. I not only miss the weather and food, but most acutely, my family. It’s really tough sometimes to be so far from my mummy (yes, I still call her that) and siblings.

I have worked at BCP for a good many years and everyday, I am constantly reminded of just how we should appreciate and cherish our families and loved ones. “Donate blood. You never know when you or someone you love needs it.” strongly resonates with me. I know firsthand what those statements mean. My dad passed away from cancer, my friend’s mother used blood in her battle againstbattled cancer, my friend’s father is sick, my aunt too; sadly, I could go on.

But the list isn’t just limited to my personal life. Through work, there’s many patients I have encountered who’ve used blood. The doting mother whose child needs blood transfusions, the new mother who used hundreds of pints of blood when she met childbirth complications, the husband and father of two who needed blood transfusions and a liver transplant to save his life. I have had the good fortune of meeting many blood donors who’ve shared their personal story on how or why they started donating blood - many do it as a sense of civic duty, but just as many do it simply because they knew of someone who needed it.

The great escape? Won’t happen till December. Until then I will stop squawking about this weather (on the plus side, it saves me money on the pedicures!) and appreciate the warmth of the generosity of the lifesaving heroes who donate blood. That and I hear they are predicting sunshine this weekend!

Happy Retirement to Gertrude “Blood Shortage” Stopper!

by JoEllen Myslik, Peninsula Account Rep, proud four time “Stopper” award winner, and avid blood donor

On June 4th, 2010, after nearly 38 years, Gertrude Stopper retired from the Blood Center. 

Gertrude, a native San Franciscan, moved to Burlingame in 1959 with her husband, Leonard.  After having three children, she began working part-time as a Telephone Recruiter at Peninsula Memorial Blood Bank on July 24th, 1972.  This job entailed calling donors to come into the Center to donate, and her managers lovingly referred to this job as being a “Call Girl”.  In 1976, Management decided they needed a Field Recruiter, someone who would organize Blood Drives in the community, and after being so successful and persuasive on the phones, Gertrude was offered this position.  She fondly recalls starting as a “Call Girl” and then progressing to “Street Walker”!
In 1998, Peninsula Memorial Blood Bank merged with Irwin Blood Center and became known as Blood Centers of the Pacific – Peninsula Center.  When Gertrude began, the blood center only did one blood drive per day and the need was 150 pints daily for seven or eight hospitals—- now as a larger organization, multiple blood drives are run each day and the need is approximately 500 pints for over forty Northern California hospitals. 

When asked about her time at the Blood Center, Gertrude says, “It has been a very rewarding position.  I feel that what I did, and what all the Recruiters do, is important work.  And the Coordinators I worked with have been wonderful.  I hope I have helped save lots of lives in the 38 years I have been employed here!”  In fact, by nearest calculations, over the course of her tenure, Gertrude has been responsible for collecting nearly 200,000 pints of blood, which has helped save the lives of over half a million people!

There is even an award that the Blood Centers of the Pacific created in Gertrude’s honor several years ago:  the “Blood Shortage ‘Stopper’ of the Month” award, presented to the Field Recruiter responsible for obtaining the highest number of pints in their territory during a particular month.  The Reps all agree that it’s quite an honor to win the “Stopper Award”.

Gertrude means a lot to many people and has made many friends along the way.  She has been an integral part of the company’s success for so many years and will be sorely missed by her coworkers, our blood drive coordinators, and donors alike. 

All of us at Blood Centers of the Pacific wish Gertrude much happiness and some well deserved relaxation in her retirement.