November 15, 2012 A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourarvadanews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 8, Issue 25
Agency aligns wheels
NECK AND NECK
Council approves human services allocations By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews.com
State District 19 candidates Lang Sias and Evie Hudak wave to passers-by near the intersection of 80th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard on Nov. 6. See election coverage on Pages 4-8 Photo by Andy Carpenean
60 gallons to saving lives Arvada man donates 480th pint of blood to Bonfils By Sara Van Cleve
svancleve@ourcoloradonews.com One pint of blood can save or affect the lives of three people, meaning one Arvada man has changed 1,140 lives. Jack Joyce, 76, became the 12th person in Bonfils Blood Center history to donate 60 gallons of blood during his platelet donation Nov. 6, a feat that was 48 years in the making. “Nineteen sixty-four was the first time I donated,” Joyce said. “For that first time, I had a friend who had a new baby that had a blood problem, and they needed to exchange his blood. I was in Colorado Springs at the time so I went to the hospital and donated with him.” Since then Joyce has donated blood, platelets or plasma 480 times in units of one pint, totaling 60 gallons. While Joyce donated some after that first donation, it wasn’t until 1976 that he began donating about every three months when his employer, IBM, hosted blood drives. In the early 1980s, though, Joyce found another personal reason to be a donor. “I lost my niece to leukemia,” he said. “At that time, I wasn’t donating platelets, I was donating whole blood.” During his 18-year-old niece’s six-month battle with the disease in 1983, Joyce said she had more than 80 blood platelet transfusions. “The transfusions gave her great comfort,” he said. Because platelets only have a shelf life of five days, there is a constant need for them, which is partly why Joyce tries to come every two weeks, the minimum amount of time required between donations. “The needle stick not being comfortable is so minor compared to what the recipients of the platelets go through,” he said. “It’s easy to donate. I want to continue to do it as long as I am able to.” In celebration of Joyce’s milestone, Bonfils Vice President Mark Thompson presented Joyce with a ruby pin commemorating his 60th gallon.
Bonfils Blood Center Vice President Mark Thompson, left, pins a 60-gallon ruby pin on platelet donor Jack Joyce’s shirt as he donated his 60th gallon of blood Tuesday, Nov. 6. Photo by Sara Van Cleve “Because of donors like Jack it means we have blood on the shelf for people in need,” Thompson said. “Donors like Jack come in on their own with no particular reason other than wanting to help their community.” And Joyce has spent many hours helping his community. Donating plasma takes about two hours per visit because the blood has to be drawn, then the platelets separated from the red blood cells by an apheresis machine and then the red blood cells replaced
into the donor. By Thompson’s calculations, Joyce has spent more than 1,000 hours in the donation chair. Joyce said he hopes to reach the 70-gallon mark if his health allows. Between his 50th and 60th gallons, Joyce wasn’t able to donate for a year and a half because he was battling cancer. “I felt like I’d never get to 50. Sixty is great,” Joyce said. “I’m glad I can continue to donate. It is very nice to be able to do and I feel good about it.”
Arvada City Council approved $210,000 of funding to human services organizations including a new agency to help people get to work. The money, which was budgeted as part of the 2013-14 budget, is from two sources — the human services pool and the Community Development Block Grant program, a federal program that is projected to give Arvada $400,000 in 2013. The resolutions for the two sets of allocations were approved Nov. 5 unanimously 6-0 with Councilman at-large Don Allard absent. A new agency, Good Neighbor Garage, will receive $10,000 to match lowincome families and people with lowcost, reliable donated vehicles to solve transportation challenges so they can keep full-time jobs. “It’s really good news because we’ll be able to help a whole lot of families fix their cars or get cars, whatever they might need to stay working, get a job or care for their children,” said Marc Veldhuizen, owner and founder of Good Neighbor Garage. This is the first time Good Neighbor Garage has received funds from the city. Veldhuizen described the company as a “Habitat for Humanity but for cars,” and has been operating about eight months. John Giardino, a member of the Human Services Advisory Committee, said the committee received funding applications from 23 organizations, totaling $323,000 in requests. “Agencies continue to experience an increase in need for their services,” Giardino said. “Because the City Council has provided additional funding to the human services funding pool, the board was also able to consider providing funds at a higher level for some of the agencies and also considering funding for a new agency.” Eighteen organizations, including Good Neighbor Garage, will receive the $135,000 budgeted to the human services pool. Allocations include $18,400 to the Jefferson Center for Mental Health, $17,000 to Project Angel Heart, $15,000 to Arapahoe House, $12,000 to Ralston House, $10,000 to STRIDE, $10,000 to Volunteers of America’s Meals on Wheels program. Other allocations include $8,500 to Seniors’ Resource Center, $5,200 to Audio Information Networks, $5,000 Archway Housing & Services Inc., $4,400 to The Action Center, $4,000 to Brothers Redevelopment Inc. and to Colorado Homeless Families, $3,000 to Family Tree, Inc., $2,500 to FACES and Hope House of Colorado, $2,000 to Volunteers of America’s Seniors Nutrition Program and $1,500 to Angel Eyes. Four other organizations are receiving funding from the CDBG, totaling $75,000. Organizations receiving CDBG funds include Metro Community Provider Network at $20,000, Inter-Church ARMS at $18,000, Carin Clinic at $17,000 and the Arvada Community Food Bank at $20,000.
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