CAFE SCI: Mobile Blood Drives and the Impact on Collections During a Global Pandemic With Karen Hendryk, Phillip Martin and Clayton Toller

The COVID-19 pandemic has had major implications for blood centers, including at Stanford Blood Center (SBC). One of the greatest challenges we faced was the cancellation of blood drives. But, despite these unforeseen challenges, our recruitment team stepped up their game, implementing new policies and procedures, along with creating new community drives to meet patients’ need for blood. So, what does it take to set up and support a mobile drive in this changing landscape? Join our Mobile Recruitment team members for this online talk to learn how they worked to find a “new normal” and, with the help of our amazing donors, continue to overcome barriers during the global pandemic. Karen Hendryk is Donor Recruitment Manager at SBC. Karen’s responsibilities include overseeing strategies to ensure consistent blood collection in both the mobile and donor center recruitment settings. Karen began working with blood centers in 2004 and has been in her current position since 2009. Before that, Karen worked for the solid organ and tissue transplant organization Northern California Transplant Bank, where she discovered her passion for connecting donors and patients. A Bay Area native, Karen grew up in Santa Clara and is proud that her work at SBC supports the community she grew up in. Phillip Martin has been working with blood centers since 2003 and will celebrate his 10th anniversary with SBC in September. Phillip first joined SBC as a Blood Center Technician before moving into the Donor Services Training team. In 2019, Phillip began his current role as an Account Manager, creating and managing community blood drives throughout the Bay Area. Phillip enjoys giving back to the community where he grew up and, in addition to his role at SBC, and has spent the past 14 years as a volunteer Reserve Engineer in the Suisun City Fire Department. Clayton Toller has been working with SBC for 15 years and specializes in working with large tech companies, helping to fit life-saving blood drive events into the stacked calendars these fast-paced organizations typically have. Clayton loves getting to work with fellow life-savers and getting the chance to help local patients. This presentation will be available on SBC’s YouTube channel at a later date. Check out some of our past Café Sci presenters on our YouTube page here: youtube.com/user/stanfordbloodcenter.