Tehachapi resident, Miss United States, Tiffany Rea, is sponsoring the final blood drive for “Crown for a Cause” on Saturday, October 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The mobile drive will be located at TK’s Pizza, 604 W. Tehachapi Blvd., Tehachapi. As with other Crown for a Cause blood drives, Tehachapi people are so generous that the donor appointments fill up very rapidly, however walk-ups may be available on the day of the blood drive. Online appointments can be made at http://www.hcbb.com or by calling the Houchin Community Blood Bank at (661) 323-4222.

Houchin regards the safety of the donors and team members as one of their top priorities. They have many protocols in place to ensure that they are not putting anyone at harm, including cleaning and disinfecting, hand washing, social distancing, respiratory and proper mask etiquette. Donors are also carefully screened. Criteria for donation includes general health, medications and chronic conditions, among others, to ensure the safety of the blood being donated. Each donor fills out a donor questionnaire in which confidential health questions are asked. A mini physical (temperature, hemoglobin levels, blood pressure, etc.) is then conducted by a nurse/phlebotomist before the blood or plasma is drawn.

One pint of blood can save up to three lives. If we come together as a community arm in arm, how many lives could we save? Let’s go all in for more happy stories.