Vitalant at Fair Oaks Temporarily Closed Beginning February 14
FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - The Vitalant blood donation center at 11713 Fair Oaks Boulevard in Fair Oaks near the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Madison Avenue in the Almond Plaza will temporarily close for at least eight weeks starting on, or about February 14 as necessary repairs to a deteriorating concrete floor and other general interior improvements are made.
“Until that upcoming closing date, it’s business as usual,” said Lorraine Schlak, RN, BSN, supervisor of the Fair Oaks blood donation center. Schlak has worked for Vitalant for over 26 years, and truly loves her work.
“There continues to be an urgent need for both blood and blood plasma. We want the public to know during our temporary closure, that their donations are welcomed and encouraged at all of our nearby Vitalant facilities,” said Schlak.
This is the first significant closure for Vitalant since it moved to the Fair Oaks location 12 years ago. The closure affects 12 medical donation staff members who will be reassigned to other local Vitalant centers while equipment and office furnishings are placed in temporary storage.
Two full-time technicians will work from the Vitalant Granite Bay location on Saturday and Sunday, days in which that location would normally be closed. The Granite Bay donation is located at 8425 Sierra College Boulevard.
The Fair Oaks center has 15 donation stations, that on average, receive 600 whole blood donations per month. Each whole blood donation takes about 45 minutes to complete from intake interview screening to post-donation patient recovery where volunteers serve snacks and refreshments.
The average time to complete a plasma donation is longer, she said. “We typically receive 24 plasma donations per day, or up to 120 each month,” she said.
“We will be reaching out through social media, email and phone calls to our regular donors and many volunteers about the upcoming closure in the weeks ahead.”
“We’re especially grateful to our many regular volunteers who actively support our center. and speaking of our long-time donors, we don’t want to lose any of them,” she said. “They are much too important to us, and we count on them.”
After February 14, telephone calls to Vitalant (877) 258-4825 will refer all blood or plasma donation appointments to other nearby facilities including 3099 Fair Oaks Boulevard in Sacramento, 150 Natoma Station in Folsom and 8425 Sierra College Boulevard in Granite Bay.
Vitalant remained open during the pandemic with protocols in place as it accepted donations. A lobby waiting area has re-opened, post donation snacks are being served and masks are no longer required but encouraged.
Prospective donors should visit: www.vitalant.org/Donate/Health-History-Questionnaire to view basic donation requirements. Appointment pre-registration and screening is encouraged, said Schlak.
Founded in 1943, Vitalant is one of the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit transfusion medicine organizations, comprising a network of about 120 community blood centers. In all, Vitalant provides lifesaving blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services for about 900 hospitals and their patients across the U.S.
According to Vitalant, every day in the U.S., patients in hospitals, surgical centers and emergency treatment facilities need approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells, 5,000 units of platelets and 6,500 units of plasma.
All healthy donors are urged to donate now, she said. “If you’ve had COVID-19 and have been symptom-free for 10 days, you are eligible to donate,” she said. “Whatever your COVID-19 vaccination status, you are absolutely allowed to give blood or platelets.”
Tour Gaden Shartse Monastery’s Sacred Earth and Healing Arts of Tibet
AUBURN, CA (MPG) - The Tibetan Monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery will open their 2023 visit to General Gomez Arts in Auburn Calif., on February 16 at 6pm with a short interfaith welcome by members of the religious community followed by the Tibetan Monks opening ritual ceremony to purify the location and begin their 10 days of events.
The much-anticipated Tibet Tour will provide a variety of cultural presentations for 10 days giving area residents and visitors a chance to experience first-hand the unique culture of the Tibetan people and the rich traditions of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.
Specially featured will be the creation of a beautiful Sand Mandala, carefully constructed over the course of their 10-day visit, following ancient Buddhist symbolic designs. Each grain of sand will be carefully laid down by hand using techniques unchanged for millennia. The public will be able to observe and enjoy this moving and meditative process as the monks work. Come throughout the 10 days to fully experience the ever-changing work in process.
The Gomez Arts and Events Center will be open daily for Mandala viewing from 10:00 am until 6:00pm except during events from Thursday, February 16, 2023 - February 26, 2023. Please check online for the complete schedule of events!
When the mandala is finished, there will be a special ritual to bless the mandala and mark its completion. Following the blessing the mandala will be ritually dissolved (always a ‘standing room only’ event), highlighting by example the Buddhist view of impermanence. The sand is then swept up into a pile with small portions of the sand being offered as gifts to members of the audience.
The following day the remaining sand is taken to a body of water where, after a short ceremony, it will be poured into the water as a blessing to purify the environment and all the beings that inhabit it.
Daily events will include: Mandala viewing, Empowerments, Group Healings, Teachings, Public Lectures and Family Events.
Schedule is subject to change. Be sure to check the entire events schedule online.
***Volunteer opportunities and meal sponsorships for the Monks are available!! ***
Individual blessings/healings, Land-Home-Business Blessings are by appointment.
Contact us for information on volunteer opportunities, meal sponsorship, or information on Individual blessings, Land, Home or Business blessings please call Jesse 916.834.8299, email auburntibetanevents@yahoo.com or inquire at the venue.
From Farm to Family
Soil Born Farms Connects Community to Fresh, Local Produce
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Soil Born Farms is a non-profit urban agriculture and education project that grows local organic produce on the 55-acre American River Ranch at 2140 Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova. The goal of the farm is to connect people with healthy food and the process of growing that food – which encourages healthy living, an investment in the environment, and a commitment to a sustainable community.
At Soil Born Farms, a big part of creating a connection between the community and the food they eat has always been the Farmstand, where people could browse fresh, organic produce. But during the last couple of years, Soil Born Farms had to make changes in response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Terese Hollander Esperas, project manager for Soil Born Farms, said they had to “rethink and pivot” to meet the community’s needs. They shifted their in-person Farmstand to an online marketplace, which opens Tuesday evenings on the website for customers to make selections for a Saturday morning drive-thru pickup at the farm. In addition to produce from the farm, the online marketplace offers curated items from 35 local farmers, bakeries, orchards, and a variety of artisan food producers. Esperas said it has been “a really successful endeavor.”
Now, Soil Born Farms has been able to re-open the Farmstand on Saturdays, but they are continuing the online marketplace as well since the service has proved to be so popular. Having the option of ordering online or browsing the Farmstand in person makes it possible to meet the needs of more people in the community – bringing fresh produce and healthy food into more homes, in whatever way works best for them.
Another big change at Soil Born Farms is a major renovation to the Farmhouse Kitchen, which is now a commercial kitchen space. This allowed the Farm to expand their services to include culinary classes, catering, and making soups and meals for the marketplace and for pop-up brunches on Saturdays. The new kitchen is the homebase for Phoebe’s Tea & Snack Bar, which serves as the Farm’s job-training site for teens, where they learn customer service skills as they serve tea, coffee, pastries, and soup to guests.
Soil Born Farms also expanded the parking lot and built a variety of new outdoor spaces for gathering and to hold outdoor classes. The Farm is open to guests on Saturdays (except in inclement weather) from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM for the Farmstand and marketplace pickups, farm tours, birdwatching, brunch, music, and family events. Milly’s Mercantile is open on Saturdays at the Farm as well, offering artisan housewares and handcrafted gifts.
There are always volunteer opportunities at Soil Born Farms, in addition to bi-annual plant sales and a variety of classes that focus on gardening, wellness, nature and the environment, herbal studies, cooking, and Summer Day Camp for the kids. Visit the website for the full schedule (https://soilborn.org/).
Soil Born Farms provides an opportunity to find healthy, local food while connecting to the land where that food is grown. Spend a Saturday gathering with friends and family while you enjoy nature and all the Farm has to offer.
Pioneer Daughter’s Legacy
CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - A descendant of one of Carmichael’s earliest families, Doris Graves Chez died recently at the age of 92.
Doris rode a creaking school bus over bumpy roads to Carmichael’s first school. She and her pony Bluebell galloped through almond groves where suburbs now spread. Her classmates included kids whose family names adorned local streets. “It was great growing up in a rural town and knowing so many fine people,” she said.
The country girl later studied at Stanford University, married college sweetheart Joe Chez and raised three daughters. For almost two decades, she served the Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Elections. A dedicated wife, mom and volunteer, her legacy includes many historical snapshots of pioneer days. Graves’ family albums recall farmers’ toil; their celebrations, tragedies and an indefatigable optimism for their frontier town.
The colony was four years old when Doris’s grandfather Fred Graves brought his family from South Dakota in 1913. Doris’s father (then 16) traveled in the same freight wagon as the Graves’ work horses. Fred purchased 100 Carmichael acres, bounded by Marconi and Kenneth Avenues. He pronounced the burgeoning colony a “land of opportunity, where everything grows.”
Family lore would become a passion for his granddaughter. “She did a thorough job archiving pictures and documentation,” says Doris’s eldest child, Karen Chez. “Her efforts mean we can always go back to those early days. Mom preserved a treasure for generations to come.”
One remarkable document is a 1914 letter from Fred Graves to his brother in South Dakota. He brags about the February sunshine that brought his peas to flower while Mid-West farms lay under snow.
Here (including original spelling) are excerpts from the 108-year-old missive.
“Dear Brother;
We are having lovely weather here now and vegitation is growing very rapidly, I have just finished my barn, and we will live in it for a while until we can get the trees planted… we are pleased to think we are here and we all like it very much, the Almond trees are in full bloom and is a very pretty sight, the land that is not cultivated is covered with very beautiful flowers, this is certainly the most beautiful country I ever saw… if you ever expect to come to this country to buy land, I really think that now is the time… land is advancing in price all the time…
I sold two of my tracts to Mr Sears of Sioux City last week for $225 an acre, I could have sold them several times for that… I disliked to sell them but could not handle so much, as three (10 acre tracts) is about all I shall be able to plant to trees now… thirty acres into fruit will make a man some good money… we expect to put out three acres of Tomatoes and two acres of watermellons… tomatoes will sell for about $9 a ton… there is lots of land being planted to trees this season… 200 acres within sight of our place…
Next week we will start to plant peaches and pears… also our home orchard, strawberries, logan berries, rasberries, black berries… We have our tomatoe seeds planted and they are coming up nicely…
“There is not a location within a radius of 50 miles… that compares with this and the land is being bought up fast… I would like to have you see this country this season … and I think you could make a trip out here for less than $100 including all expences…
“Give my kind regards to the folks and tell Anna that if she was here she would be putting in all the time in the garden she wanted to, for this is a great country for garden stuff….”
Two years later, farmer Fred died in a dynamite explosion. Like many Carmichael pioneers, he blasted hard pan to plant his orchards. Accidents were common. Though Doris was not born until 1930, she learned how the tragedy affected her kin. “My father (not yet 20), took over the care of his mother and two sisters,” she said. “His sisters got jobs. In 1918, he was drafted for WW I. He couldn’t return till 1919. He then farmed the land. The family survived some very hard years.”
In time, Bayard graves established a plumbing business, served on the Carmichael School board and was one of Carmichael Park Board’s first directors. Sierra View Funeral Chapel now stands on part of his farm.
Recalled Doris: “My father was a volunteer fireman and when WW II came, he was an air raid warden. Some evenings, we’d sit out on the front lawn and watch the planes from McClellan or Mather fly over. The school bus stop was right in front of our house. Our large lawn made a perfect ball field, so we often gathered there early, before school. We swam in the American River and had picnics by the old pump house. We knew everyone for miles around.”
Says her daughter Karen: “Mom had a blast growing up in Carmichael. She treasured her ancestors and taught us to value their stories. She had a way or fast-forwarding the past: in her teens, a snake scared her horse Bluebell. Mom was thrown. She was hurt and terrified. But she had to get back on that horse or she couldn’t get home. I was in a car accident as a teenager. I was scared to drive again. Mom said: ‘you must get back on the horse.’
“Once, mom invited relatives to Carmichael Park for a reunion. She told us how her father helped prepare the land for that park. Whenever we drove around, she told us who used to live each house; whose farm used to be where.
“Our mother knew all about Carmichael its people. She was a font of knowledge. We’re grateful she loved sharing what she knew.”
Footnote: Doris published a three-volume history of the Graves and Chez families. It is available (reference only) through the Sacramento Public Library.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Sacramento County has moved its evacuation shelter/weather respite for unhoused guests to Cal Expo (1600 Exposition Blvd., Building 8) as of Thursday, Jan. 12.
This location has cots, blankets, water, and snacks for guests, as well as crates for pets.
In addition to serving as an evacuation center, Cal Expo is welcoming unhoused individuals in search of weather respite from throughout the County through partnerships with the City of Sacramento, 2-1-1 Sacramento, and community-based outreach organizations
Additional locations will be opened as needed.
Additional Resources for Unhoused Individuals
The County of Sacramento activated its motel voucher weather respite program ahead of the original storm on New Year’s Eve and is currently sheltering more than 350 people.
In addition, the County increased capacity at its North A Shelter on Dec. 31 and will welcome new guests as beds are vacated. This location will accommodate pets.
The Outreach and Engagement Center (3615 Auburn Blvd.) opened as a 24-hour weather respite center as of Wednesday, Jan. 4. Walk-ups are accepted, and families and pets are welcome.
The North Fifth shelter lobby (700 North Fifth St.) is operating from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. It also will accept walk-ups. (Please note that North Fifth is for adults only and is unable to accommodate pets.)
People can use SacRT light rail and buses for free to go to and from any weather-respite location. The SacRT light rail station at Watt/I-80 station connects to bus Route 1, which has a stop near the City’s OEC.
Blood Supply Sinks to Lowest Level in a Year
SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The blood supply for about 900 hospitals nationwide recently dipped to its lowest level in a year at Vitalant, triggering a blood emergency for the nonprofit blood services provider. Eligible donors of all blood types, especially type O, are needed now to schedule an appointment and donate in the days and weeks ahead to prevent delays for patients who need transfusions.
Changes in the way people work, live, and play since the start of the pandemic created lasting challenges to maintaining an adequate blood supply. As many people continue to work remotely, blood donations at business-hosted blood drives are down by 50% in 2022 from 2019, a decline of 90,000 donations. Overall, the number of people donating with Vitalant has dropped about 20% in the last three years, while patients’ needs remain strong.
Mitzy Edgecomb, Vitalant’s west division vice president, reports, “The frequency of emergency blood shortages is a grave concern for all of us. Because blood is perishable with no artificial substitute, the blood supply must be constantly replenished. Despite extraordinary outreach efforts in the last few months, blood inventory continues to be dangerously low.”
Vitalant notes that new donors and those who haven’t donated recently are critical to end blood shortages and help our blood supply return to more stable, pre-pandemic levels.
In addition to societal shifts, recent blood drive cancellations forced by severe winter weather and illnesses have compounded the shortage. Blizzards, rain/wind/flooding and extreme cold caused more than 2,000 donations to go uncollected in December and early January.
Donors of every blood type are critical to ending this shortage and maintaining an adequate supply. The need is most acute for type O blood and platelets. Type O-positive is the most transfused blood type while O-negative can help patients of any blood type. Donated platelets, which often help cancer patients, must be used within a week.
Learn more about hosting blood drives, donating blood and make an appointment to give at vitalant.org, download and use the Vitalant app or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825). During January, National Blood Donor Month, all those who come to give blood through Jan. 20 will be automatically entered to win tickets, travel and more in the Big Trip to the Big Game Giveaway. Learn more at vitalant.org/biggame.
Vitalant (“Vye-TAL-ent”) is the nation’s largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider exclusively focused on providing lifesaving blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services for about 900 hospitals and their patients across the U.S. Every day, Vitalant needs to collect nearly 5,000 blood, platelet, and plasma donations to help save lives. For more information and to schedule a donation appointment, visit vitalant.org or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825). Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Help available for California businesses and residents affected by the statewide winter storm
SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available to California businesses and residents as a result of President Biden's major disaster declaration, U.S. Small Business Administration's Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced.
The declaration covers Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties as a result of severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides that began Dec. 27, 2022.
“With President Biden's declaration, SBA is working closely with FEMA and our state and local officials on the ground to deliver expedient disaster recovery loans and support that will aid Californians impacted by these severe and devastating winter storms, flooding and mudslides,” said Administrator Guzman. “My heartfelt condolences go out to the families who have lost loved ones, and I urge affected residents to stay safe and heed the guidance of local emergency officials. As the state faces continued rainfall and heightened risks of flooding and mudslides, the SBA is committed to providing the full breadth of our resources to help small businesses and communities recover and rebuild stronger than before.”
Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to businesses and homeowners to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future.
For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available to businesses regardless of any property damage.
Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
Interest rates can be as low as 3.305 percent for businesses, 2.375 percent for private nonprofit organizations and 2.313 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant's financial condition.
To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, survivors must first contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency at www.disasterassistance.gov. As soon as Federal-State Disaster Recovery Centers open throughout the affected area, SBA will provide one-on-one assistance to disaster loan applicants. Additional information and details on the location of disaster recovery centers is available by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955.
More information:
Recently, U.S. SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced a policy change granting 12 months of no payments and 0% interest. This pertains to all disaster loans approved in response to disasters declared on or after September 21, 2022, through September 30, 2023. This covers SBA disaster loans currently available for Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian declared earlier this year. This policy change will benefit disaster survivors and help them to decrease the overall cost of recovery by reducing the amount of accrued interest they must repay. Details are available through the SBA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955. Individuals with verbal or hearing impairments may dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday, or email: disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.