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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Vitalant, the nation’s second-largest community blood service provider, is hosting the 15th Annual Bucket Brigade Blood Drive Challenge.
It’s partnering with 21 fire agencies across Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties for this year’s event.
With the COVID-19 pandemic causing major disruptions, Kim Walsh, Vitalant’s donor recruitment representative, said the Bucket Brigade is even more important this year.
Vitalant reported that surges in COVID-19 cases, wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters combined with the cancellation of blood drives at schools, businesses and community organizations have brought the blood supply to a critical level on a national level.
Walsh said Vitalant supports 45 Bay Area hospitals.
While they’ve been able to supply those hospitals with what they need, “We’re in need of donors,” Walsh said.
Walsh said they are doing things very differently in response to COVID-19.
“We have had to cancel 2,000 blood drives in the Bay Area,” said Walsh.
On the local level, they’ve also stopped mobile blood drives. Instead, Walsh said they’re looking for spaces of 2,000 square feet and above to allow for social distancing.
She said they are fortunate that the fire stations chose to continue with this year’s Bucket Brigade. “That’s been a huge, huge relief.”
The Bucket Brigade is a friendly competition to see which fire department can host the largest blood drive between December and January.
Vitalant said the Bucket Brigade idea comes from the Great London Fire of 1666 that found community members in “brigades” as they passed buckets of water from the city’s water supply to the blaze that endangered their town and community.
Vitalant Senior Director of Donor Recruitment Andrea Casson brought the participating North Coast fire departments together 15 years ago with the idea of “creating a modern Bucket Brigade that gathers our community in an effort to save lives through blood donations.”
Since 2006, fire departments participating in the Bucket Brigade Challenge have recruited more than 11,000 participants, Vitalant reported.
For Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties, Walsh said 80 percent of the mobile blood drives in December have been Bucket Brigade events.
Walsh said Lake County’s participating fire agencies – Lakeport Fire and South Lake County Fire – typically perform very well and are consistently among the top drives in the Bucket Brigade.
Last year, Lakeport had 65 donors and placed fourth out of 21 competitors, while South Lake County came in seventh with 56 donors, Walsh said.
Lakeport Fire’s blood drive won’t take place in the downtown station’s truck bay as in past years. Walsh said this year it will be held in the larger – and heated – Silveira Community Center across N. Main Street.
As a special thank you, blood donors will receive an annual event T-shirt.
To find a drive near you, see the complete list of Bucket Brigade blood drive events published below.
Appointments for the Bucket Brigade are encouraged. Visit www.vitalant.com and use the sponsor code, Middletown or Lakeport, for the Lake County blood drive where you wish to donate.
For your donation, please arrive well-hydrated and well-nourished, with a face mask and photo identification.
Besides the Bucket Brigade, Walsh said Vitalant is in Lake County once a month to collect blood donations.
To make an appointment, get eligibility information and to learn more about how Vitalant is adjusting to the pandemic, visit www.vitalant.org or call 877-258-4825.
15th Annual Bucket Brigade Blood Drive events
Lake County
Saturday, Dec. 5
South Lake County Fire Protection District
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Station 60, 21095 State Highway 175, Middletown
Saturday, Dec. 19
Lakeport Fire Protection District
9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Silveira Community Center, 500 N. Main St.
Mendocino County
Tuesday, Dec. 1
Ukiah Valley Fire Authority
1:30 to 5:45 p.m.
Community center, 200 School St., Ukiah
Monday, Dec. 28
Fort Bragg and Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department
1 to 5:30 p.m.
Town Hall, 363 N. Main St., Fort Bragg
Tuesday, Dec. 29
Fort Bragg and Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department
10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Town Hall, 363 N. Main St., Fort Bragg
Wednesday, Jan. 13
Hopland Volunteer Fire Department
1 to 6 p.m.
Fire station, 21 Feliz Creek Road
Sonoma County
Tuesday, Dec. 15
Sebastopol Fire Department
1 to 6 p.m.
Fire station, 7425 Bodega Bay Ave.
Tuesday, Dec. 22
Graton Fire Protection District
1:30 to 6 p.m.
Fire station truck bay, 3750 Highway 116 North
Wednesday, Dec. 30
Forestville Fire Department
2 to 6:30 p.m.
Fire station: 6554 Mirabel Road
Sunday, Jan. 3
Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
SOMO Event Center, 1100 Valley House Drive
Wednesday, Jan. 6
Santa Rosa Fire Department
9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Training center, 35 Stony Point Road
Saturday, Jan. 9
Healdsburg Fire Department
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Fire station, 601 Healdsburg Ave.
Thursday, Jan. 14
Sonoma County Fire District
1:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Rincon Valley Station Fire Station, 91 Middle Rincon Road, Santa Rosa
Friday, Jan. 15
Cloverdale Fire Protection District
1:30 to 6 p.m.
Fire station, 451 S. Cloverdale Blvd.
Wednesday, Jan. 20
Sonoma Valley Fire District
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Vintage House, 264 First St. East, Sonoma
Friday, Jan. 22
Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District
1:30 to 6:30 p.m.
District fire station, 20975 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville
Monday, Jan. 25
Wilmar and San Antonio Volunteer Fire Departments
1 to 6 p.m.
Wilmar Fire Station, 3825 Bodega Ave., Petaluma
Tuesday, Jan. 26
Petaluma Fire Department and Rancho Adobe Fire District
1 to 6 p.m.
Petaluma Elks Lodge, 2105 S. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma
Wednesday, Jan. 27
Petaluma Fire Department and Rancho Adobe Fire District
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Petaluma Elks Lodge, 2105 S. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma
Saturday, Jan. 30
Sonoma County Fire District – Windsor Station
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Huerta Gym, 9291 Old Redwood Hwy #200, Windsor
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – For many of the nearly one-quarter of Lake County residents aged 65 and above, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant simple things like acquiring food have required greater thought and planning.
Four Lake County Senior Centers have stepped up to meet unprecedented needs.
On Monday, Nov. 30, the county of Lake delivered checks totaling $96,582.28 to these four senior centers, located throughout the county:
· Lakeport Senior Center (provider of senior meal program services in the Lakeport, Kelseyville, Nice and Lucerne areas) was granted $28,687.59;
· Middletown Senior Center received $20,000;
· Live Oak Seniors Inc. (Clearlake Oaks), $17,287.31; and
· Highland Senior Services Center (Clearlake area) was awarded $30,607.38.
“We are very grateful to the Lake County Board of Supervisors for their decision to share [the County’s] CARES Act funds with senior centers,” said Lake Family Resource Center and Lakeport Senior Center Executive Director, Lisa Morrow. “These funds will facilitate much-needed meal support for our most vulnerable community members during the COVID-19 health emergency.”
The need for Meals on Wheels Drivers has never been greater. If you can be available to help our Senior Centers deliver meals, please contact them today:
· Highlands Senior Center, 707-994-3051.
· Lakeport Senior Center, 707-279-0563.
· Live Oak Seniors Inc., 707-998-1950.
· Middletown Senior Center, 707-987-3113.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The new order is effective Dec. 1, 2020, until Nov. 1, 2021.
The road system and trails in the August Complex/Ranch fire areas have been evaluated, many hazards have been removed and a considerable amount of fire suppression damage has been repaired.
While many hazards have been removed, there is no way to make the fire area entirely safe from all hazards.
Some hazards that visitors may encounter when traveling in the fire area are fire weakened trees falling, limbs dropping, burned-out “stump holes” giving way under you, during wet weather, water or mud building up quickly and large rocks dislodging and rolling without warning.
“It is important to reopen access to public lands where we can,” Johnson said. “However, we need to keep some trails and campgrounds closed as they sustained damage that will take some time to repair. We want visitors to be careful and aware of their surroundings while traveling in the burned area.”
Forest Order 08-20-15, including the order, map and list of closed trails and facilities is posted on the forest website, https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd859571.pdf.
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- Written by: LORENA MOLINA-IRIZARRY
Former Federal Chief Information Officer Suzette Kent called the innovation program, led by the U.S. Census Bureau, “one of the most important accelerators in federal government.”
TOP is a key component of the Federal Data Strategy and the President’s Management Agenda, championed by Deputy Secretary of Commerce Karen Dunn Kelley.
Through 12-week technology development sprints – a method to rapidly prototype digital products – government, technology and community collaborators team up to create digital products that use federal open data. The goal is to serve the public and solve some of our nation’s greatest challenges.
These sprints focus on far-ranging topics such as the natural environment, the built environment, a first-ever cohort of university student participants, and the inaugural implementation of The Opportunity Project’s TOPx Toolkit, piloted by the Department of State.
Challenges TOP tackled this year:
– Reducing plastic pollution in oceans.
– Helping the public understand the effects of transportation emissions on local air quality.
– Enabling aerial and geospatial data to aid agricultural decision-making.
– Developing effective and efficient markets for recycled materials.
– Tracking the impact of emergency and disaster funding.
– Assisting recently resettled refugees.
– Paving a path to economic self-sufficiency for low-income families.
– Facilitating sustainable rural economic development.
– Reimagining civics education for a new generation.
This year’s efforts were co-led by the U.S. departments of State, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Wilson Center, and USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
More than 35 tech teams are set to launch their products/digital solutions at our upcoming first-ever virtual Demo Week celebrating TOP’s five-year anniversary, including companies, universities, civic tech brigades and more.
What are some of the products being developed?
Esri, a pioneer in the world of GIS since 1969, has used data from the EPA, INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization), the Citizen Science portal and multiple national and international specialists to build an Esri Story Map
This interactive online narrative compiles tangible and novel data sets to energize public consciousness and provide new insights into the problem of ocean plastic pollution. It offers actions citizens and policymakers worldwide can take to solve the crisis.
Rutgers University’s Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA). A participant in the first-ever university sprint, IDEA has built “Better Air, Better Schools” – a website that uses EPA School Bus Rebate Program data to help teach students ages 7 to 10 about air pollution. The site demonstrates what students can do to reduce the harmful effects of idling and diesel emissions.
OPS1, a technology company dedicated to evolving organizational software, used federal open data, user advocate knowledge, and subject matter expertise to build the cloud-based EnVision application to help low-income families assess their strengths and weaknesses.
The app helps them identify support resources (service providers, mentors and coaches), set goals, create roadmaps, set up prompts to stay on track, and gain tangible rewards for increasing their economic self-sufficiency.
Center on Rural Innovation, or CORI, is a nonprofit dedicated to achieving economic success in rural America through partnership and strategy development. It used data from several sources including the Department of Education College Scorecard, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and Census Bureau to build the Tech Talent tool.
The tool allows local development leaders and ecosystem builders to easily identify tech talent and employment in small communities.
These products created by technology teams are a small sample of the more than 35 tools that have been created through this innovative collaboration of federal agencies, tech leaders, nonprofits and advocacy groups from communities most affected by these challenges.
To date, more than 1,500 individuals, more than 30 federal agencies and hundreds of organizations have participated in The Opportunity Project, leading to more than 140 new open data digital tools, including apps, websites, mapping tools, data visualizations, games and more.
Want to see more?
Join in celebrating The Opportunity Project’s five-year anniversary at its first-ever virtual Demo Week, which takes place Dec. 9 to 11.
See the event schedule and build your own agenda here.
Want to get involved?
Sign up for emails to stay in the loop and learn more about upcoming sprints in 2021.
Lorena Molina-Irizarry is director of operations of Census Open Innovation Labs. Article courtesy of the US Census Bureau.