Elfreida Bizaholoni of Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation was among the top 3% of award-winning blood drive coordinators recently honored by United Blood Services, earning a Hero Award for providing the largest impact on the blood supply. Of the 1,470 organizations that sponsored blood drives last year, Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation was one of the top 44 across Arizona that qualified for the Hero Award. Pictured from left to right is United Blood Services’ Southwest Division President Tom Choi, organization blood drive coordinator Elfreida Bizaholoni & Lynette Bonar, as well as the special guest attending to congratulatehonorees, Phoenix Suns’ Broadcaster Tom Leander.
UNITED BLOOD SERVICES “VALENTINES FOR LIFE” CELEBRATES 200,000 LIVES SAVED
Valley Teen Meets 33 of the Blood Donors Who Saved Her Life in Honor of UBS 75th Anniversary
March 2018 – The efforts of blood drive coordinators throughout the state were recently applauded at Valentines for Life, United Blood Services premier annual awards event. Last year, volunteer blood drive coordinators from 1,470 organizations hosted 3,536 blood drives across Arizona, which provided 95,598 blood donations. Because blood can be separated into components to benefit multiple patients, those donations saved nearly 200,000 Arizona lives!
Honored guests at the Valentines for Life event heard an inspiring story from 15-year-old Mia McPoland of Chandler, who was born with Diamond Blackfan Anemia, a rare disorder that prevents her body from producing red blood cells. Every month, Mia requires lifesaving blood transfusions – a need that is expected to continue her entire life. Since she was just six weeks old, Mia has relied on the generosity of more than 200 blood donors. In honor of United Blood Services 75th anniversary, 33 of her blood donors gathered on Feb. 16 at Valentines for Life in a surprise meeting with Mia.
Of the organizations that hosted blood drives across the state last year, 242 groups achieved Valentines for Life awards for reaching significant milestones in recruiting blood donors. Of those, 44 organizations earned the Hero Award, United Blood Services most prestigious honor that is reached by just two percent of all blood drive coordinators across Arizona. This dynamic group of coordinators provided the largest impact on the blood supply by going above and beyond with outstanding blood drive planning, as well as recruiting donors on difficult days or during times of the year when the need was most critical. With the support of their senior management and blood drive committees, the 38 Hero Award winners alone provided Arizona patients with an amazing 15,330 lifesaving blood donations.
2017 Bill Shover Leadership Award Recipient: Joe Boudrie, Phoenix Comic Fest
Individual chosen by the UBS Community Leadership Council that inspired, motivated and served as an advocate for United Blood Services
2017 Mac McClure Legacy Award Recipient: Tempe Center for the Arts
Group or organization chosen by the UBS Community Leadership Council that embodied the spirit of pure altruism in support of the United Blood Services’ mission
2017 Media of the Year Award Recipient: KTVK-TV3
Media group that gave the most outstanding support to increase awareness of the need for blood
2017 Hero Award Recipients: 44 Organizations Cumulatively Providing 13,186 Blood Donations
Providing the largest impact on the blood supply with outstanding blood drive coordination
East Valley Heroes
- Chandler: Bank of America Chandler Boulevard Campus – Rachael Witkin & Barbara Hover
- Fountain Hills: Fountain Hills & Noon Kiwanis – Dr. Liz Smith & Paul Appeldorn
- Mesa:Pints4Goose – Kimberlee Bradford, Andrew Bradford & Stacy Truman
- Scottsdale: Blood Systems, Inc. –Ashley Pearson
- Scottsdale: Discount Tire – Denise Sakson & Lori Governale
- Scottsdale: General Dynamics-Hayden – Heather German, Julie Godziela & Gail Baldacchino
- Scottsdale: Nationwide – Toby Fox & Delynn Hendrickson
- Tempe:SRP-Information Systems Building – Janelle Thrasher
Phoenix Heroes
- Arrow Electronics – Heidi Ash
- Bank of America Collier Center – April Parker-Allen & Sheryl Jones
- Donor Network of Arizona – Rhiannon Knueven & Angie McGlasson
- Honeywell 301 Building – Bill Janiga & Nery Alonso
- Mayo Clinic – Jackie Barr & Kairin Whiteside
- Motorcycle Mechanics Institute – Stephanie Scott
- One Renaissance Square Sponsored by Quarles & Brady – Monica Kish
- Refrigeration School, Inc. – Kamia Dailey
- Symphony Health Solutions – Denise Stokka
West Valley Heroes
- Avondale: Universal Technical Institute – Hilary Yuengst & Stephanie Berdeaux
- Glendale: Arizona Automotive Institute – Rachel Hayes & James Candelaria
- Glendale: Banner Thunderbird Medical Center – Ashley Harvey & Jason Mielke
- Glendale: Luke Air Force Base – Capt. Ivette Caro & MSgt. Morgan Iorio
- Glendale: Midwestern University – Julie High Horse Gregg
- Peoria: Culver’s-Peoria – Holly Blowers & Eileen Gallegos
- Peoria: Lunde’s Peoria Volkswagen – Shelli Lundquist
- Peoria: New Life Community Church – Linda Scroggin & Lori Ankrom
- Sun City: Banner Boswell Medical Center – Michael Hartmann & Amber Page
- Sun City: Sun City Visitors Center –Polly Corsino
- Sun City West: Arizona Fire & Medical Authority – Thomas O’Donohue & Holli Bishop
- Sun City West: Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center – Cindy Griffin & Daryl Handrich
- Surprise: Arizona Traditions Pickleball Club – Earl Hill & Susie Burns
- Surprise: St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Community – Connie Gaudio & Simone Barthell
Outlying Arizona Heroes
- Casa Grande: Banner Casa Grande Medical Center – Michelle Smith
- Cottonwood: Knights of Columbus-Immaculate Conception Catholic Church – Tim McGowan
- Cottonwood: Verde Valley Medical Center – Laura Curtiss & Lois Takach
- Flagstaff: Flagstaff Mall – Bonnie Bouschet
- Flagstaff: Flagstaff Medical Center – Kim Angelo, Monique McCartney & Mary Hostetler
- Flagstaff: Fratelli Pizza-Flagstaff – Brent Schepper
- Flagstaff:Northern Arizona Volunteer Medical Corp. – Cathy Flores
- Flagstaff: RE/MAX Peak Properties Flagstaff Elite Team – Eric Davis, Jessica Garard & Sara Holloway
- Flagstaff: W.L. Gore and Associates-West Flagstaff – Jill Knuth & Janelle Brinkmann
- Prescott: Yavapai Regional Medical Center – Hannah LaMoure
- Show Low: Summit Healthcare Regional Medical Center – Kim Mayfield
- Tuba City: Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation – Elfreida Bizaholoni
- Yuma: Yuma Regional Medical Center – Elizabeth Hammonds
About United Blood Services, a Blood Systems Blood Center
A Blood Systems blood center, United Blood Services has been Arizona’s non-profit community blood provider since 1943 and serves patients in more than 60 Arizona hospitals. Blood Systems is one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit community blood service providers, currently serving more than 1,000 hospital and healthcare partners across 28 states to provide comprehensive transfusion medicine services for patients in need. For more information on how to Find the Hero in You, please call 1-877-UBS-HERO (1-877-827-4376) toll-free or visit www.UnitedBloodServicesAZ.org.
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