Case for Support - Bonfils Blood Center

Case for Support
THE STARTING LINE
A Lifesaving Mission
The starting line for Bonfils Blood Center comes in the form of our mission statement: Partnering with our community
to save and enhance lives through transfusion medicine excellence.
Blood transfusions are needed in the United States every two seconds and every unit of blood donated has the
potential to save or enhance the lives of three different patients in need. In 2013 alone, nearly 138,000 donations were
collected by Bonfils and an estimated 414,000 patients benefitted from our blood and blood products. Through our
partnership with tens of thousands of volunteers and hundreds of healthcare partners Bonfils has saved and enhanced
more than 10 million lives.
Bonfils Blood Center locally targets a critical, global need – blood and blood products. The blood center's mission
involves supplying exceptionally safe blood products for patients caught in emergency medical situations or who
require regularly scheduled surgery, while also providing products for transplant operations and blood therapies for
illnesses such as sickle cell anemia, hemophilia and cancer. 2013 marked Bonfils’ celebration of 70 years of saving
lives by furnishing the vast majority of Colorado’s needed blood supply.
Legacy of Philanthropy
Founded in 1943 to help organize blood donations for soldiers during World War II, Bonfils Blood Center has grown to
become one of the most respected independent community blood centers in the nation. Americans supporting the war
effort at home realized the importance of blood transfusions in saving lives so Dr. Osgoode Philpott and philanthropist
Helen G. Bonfils (pictured top left) founded Denver's first community blood bank. Belle Bonfils Memorial Blood Bank,
named after Helen's beloved mother, opened February 27, 1943. Its vision was to meet the blood needs of the local
community, as well as the military forces fighting overseas. That vision of philanthropy continues today because of a
community that comes together year after year to provide great starts – or in many cases, restarts – to patients in need.
One of these restarts came on Sept. 11, 2011 when, after giving birth to her second son, Dianna Cillessen (pictured
bottom left), a local Arvada resident, developed a condition known as amniotic fluid embolism. This is an extremely
rare and not completely understood emergency in which amniotic fluid enters the mother’s blood stream triggering a
reaction that can cause the heart and lungs to collapse. This dangerous condition requires multiple blood transfusions
as part of the treatment. Because of the more than 40 units of selflessly donated blood and blood products Dianna
received that day at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center she is alive and well and able to enjoy spending time with
her husband and watch her beautiful sons grow up. Patients like Dianna are the reason Bonfils created our unique
Ambassador Program in which blood recipients tell their stories of survival and advocate on behalf of Bonfils.
Bonfils is privileged to continue this legacy of compassion and generosity by being part of creating a new generation
of altruistic individuals. Approximately 10 percent of the nation’s blood supply is given by high-school-aged donors.
Courageous high-schoolers all over Colorado have stepped up to the starting line in their philanthropic endeavors by
donating blood at mobile blood drives in the past few years. Thanks to their heroism, Bonfils collected more than
5,700 donations from 99 Colorado schools during the 2012/2013 school year. Additionally, 3,352 donors gave blood for
the first time in support of patients in need. That’s more than 17,000 lives positively impacted. MILESTONES
Above and Beyond
Because of the strength of Bonfils’ starting point – our mission and vision – we have been fortunate to experience
extraordinary organizational milestones over the past several decades. Throughout the years, Bonfils has responded
to numerous natural and manmade tragedies in Colorado and beyond including Columbine, Hurricane Katrina, the
Aurora Theater Tragedy, the Oklahoma City Bombing and others. Bonfils’ blood was on the first flight allowed into
the New York area following 9/11 – the only flight in the air at the time. We are also one of only eight organizations
designated by the Department of Defense to supplement the military's blood supply. We have proudly acted as an
intermediary connecting person to person in times of great need when Coloradans looked to go above and beyond in
helping their fellow man.
Bonfils also continues to witness and assist with milestones of our community members that are nothing short of
miraculous. In 2005, Ryan Taylor (pictured top left) was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Throughout
the 36 months he fought the life-threatening illness, young Ryan endured two surgeries, 20 spinal taps, several blood
transfusions and many other medical interventions. With his cancer now in remission for several years, he is living a
normal life and even played football on his school team. Ryan put it best when he said, “Blood donors helped make it
possible for me to beat leukemia. Thank you!"
Nate Post, (pictured middle left) is another phenomenal example of the need for Bonfils in our community. Nate was
diagnosed with a rare advanced stage IV cancer that required nearly 100 blood transfusions to help him through
chemotherapy treatments. Thanks to selfless, dedicated donors Nate is cancer-free and back to enjoying everyday
milestones like snowboarding, racing, hiking and traveling. According to Nate, “The amazing donors have given me a
second chance at life and for that, I am forever grateful."
The Challenge – and Opportunity
Bonfils Blood Center’s core mission of providing blood and blood products to patients in need has remained
unchanged since our creation in 1943. This mission is dependent upon the kindness of blood donors and the
donations they make at Bonfils’ community donor centers and across the state at mobile blood drives. Although our
purpose remains unchanged, we are at a turning point due to challenges unique to the healthcare and transfusion
medicine industries.
For the last few years, hospitals and other healthcare partners have been decreasing usage of blood and blood
products. This is due in part to cost-cutting necessities, patient outcome and safety initiatives as well as surgical
and other medical procedure advancements. To remain good stewards of the lifesaving gifts provided by our blood
donors, blood centers like Bonfils have responded to these changes in demand. In spite of the reduced usage of blood
products as a whole, Bonfils is a critical part of the healthcare system.
Bonfils Blood Center staff work in tandem to expertly manage the community blood supply to ensure the right
products are available for patients when and where they’re needed. With varying shelf-lives for each product Bonfils
produces from volunteer donations, managing the blood supply can be a daunting task. To meet fluctuating and
increasingly specific product demands, we are working to recruit and convert donors to various donation methods
based on their blood types.
In 2013 alone, for example, Bonfils set a goal to increase platelet collections by 28 percent to meet needs of hospital
partners and their patients. Another pertinent example of this system lies with O- donors. O- blood is always needed
because it is the universal donor type but O- blood donors make up a small percentage of the population. As a result,
Bonfils has begun transitioning O- donors to the ALYX donation platform, which allows Bonfils to collect double the
amount of red cells per unit of blood in one sitting. Moreover, the mobility of this donation platform allows us to
collect automated donations in the mobile blood drive environment, where more than half of all blood donations
are collected, and ultimately optimizes our ability to provide the right product for the right patient at the right time.
Matching donors to these varying donation methods based on their blood type is an essential part of the future of
Bonfils. It helps ensure exact blood components are available to patients who need them, when they need them.
Our overall collection numbers and our staff, vehicle and equipment needs to maintain a stable and readily available
community blood supply are still significant. Bonfils Blood Center collected more than 137,700 blood donations from
nearly 68,000 selfless Coloradans last year and needs to collect at least that amount in 2014 to meet the blood needs
of the more than 100 hospitals we serve. With a robust mobile blood drive program, we’re welcomed by nearly 800
different businesses, high schools and universities, faith-based organizations and civic clubs that host more than
2,100 blood drives annually. We also operate fixed-site community donor centers in Boulder, Colorado Springs and the
Denver metro area to make donation as convenient as possible.
Blood centers across the nation are reimbursed by hospitals for collecting, typing, testing, manufacturing and
distributing an FDA-regulated pharmaceutical product (blood). Operating the blood center costs more than $130,000
a day. Bonfils Blood Center remains in a strong financial position, but with a reduction in reimbursement with no
reduction in fixed and other necessary costs to conduct our work, fundraising has become more important than ever
before. When a project such as Build a Fleet arises, we turn to the community for philanthropic support so we can
continue to adapt to the changing healthcare environment and carry on our lifesaving mission uninterrupted.
COMPLETING THE JOURNEY
A Mission Driven Capital Campaign
As the starting line and milestones have been outlined, it is now time to complete the journey of making the case
for support for Bonfils’ Build a Fleet campaign. Build a Fleet was launched because Bonfils is committed to keeping
our promise of maintaining our community’s blood supply in the most responsible and efficient manner possible. The
campaign is aimed at raising $653,000 from 2014 to 2016 to replace and add to our vehicle fleet.
Needs in our fleet have changed drastically as our focus has shifted toward utilizing new technologies and collection
methods to capture the optimal mix of blood and blood derivatives. The large buses or “bloodmobiles” that have
become a staple of blood centers are not always the preferred method of most mobile drives for Bonfils. While
they still have their place (and Bonfils will need to replace several bloodmobiles in the upcoming year, which, when
fully-equipped, cost upwards of $300,000 each) the vehicles we plan to add during this campaign are smaller, more
efficient and add strategic benefit to our mobile drive operations.
The vehicles needed during our Build a Fleet campaign include:
• Shuttles and sprinters that can carry equipment and staff for larger blood drives that are held
inside host facilities;
• Trailers that will allow staff to haul specialized collection equipment behind vehicles we already
possess in our fleet, and;
• A car that will be utilized for activities that range from emergency blood deliveries to transporting
supplemental staff to mobile blood drives.
These vehicles contribute to operational excellence initiatives because they are smaller and more efficient which is
critical as Bonfils’ fleet traveled 336,708 miles in 2013. They also better align to the most common blood drive sizes
Bonfils holds and do not require a CDL driver, allowing for a more flexible workforce.
While the Build a Fleet campaign does have strategic benefit to our organization, the primary reason for enhancing
our fleet is mission driven. We must maintain an elite fleet for individuals like Danielle Percival (pictured left) who
has been a long time blood donor, but never realized blood would someday save her life. Following a surgery, Danielle
received 29 blood transfusions and four units of plasma in only 48 hours. Today, Danielle is healthy and encourages
others in the community to understand the importance of blood, organ and tissue donation.
“I will be forever grateful to my 29 blood donors whose selfless gifts saved my life in February 2009. They have
allowed me to continue to raise my beautiful daughter." - Danielle
We also have an obligation to the blood donors who support us – to make donation as simple and convenient as
possible and care for them on a level that is unrivaled. It is our duty as Colorado’s community blood center to meet
donor’s needs and our fleet helps us do just that. We want to continue to foster great relationships with blood donors
like Bill Cell and Jodi Muser, both high gallon donors who have supported Bonfils for decades and whose selflessness
and kindness are to be admired.
“I’m hale and hearty, why not?” - Bill Cell (pictured left with Bonfils’ staff), 85-gallon donor and Bonfils’ highest
gallon donor
“I started donating blood when I was 18 years old when my boss needed surgery and from then I continued on giving.
I hope someday to reach the 75-gallon mark." - Jodi Muser, Bonfils' first female 60-gallon donor
Build a Fleet Campaign Budget
Approximately $653,000* will be fundraised from 2014 to 2016 for the vehicles listed below. Vehicles will be
purchased on a rolling basis throughout the campaign.
Vehicle Type
Shuttles
Sprinters
Trailers
Wagon
Number Needed
2
5
4
1
Cost of Each*
$170,000
$53,000
$5,000
$28,000
Total Cost
$340,000
$265,000
$20,000
$28,000
*Due to the variability of vehicle costs, these costs are as closely estimated as possible and are subject to change slightly.