Residents make their blood bank deposits

Area residents joined deputies on Wednesday at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station in an annual effort to help fill local blood banks’ reserves.

An American Red Cross bloodmobile was parked at the station from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the local installment of the sixth annual Battle of the Badges contest, a friendly competition among Southern California public-safety agencies to raise awareness of the year-round need for blood donations.

At 11:30 a.m. several residents were queued up outside the bloodmobile as they waited to donate. Deputy Jorge Valdivia said that about 25 people had signed up beforehand, and that with the donations of deputies and some walk-ins, he hoped to top last year’s total of 30 donors.

This is the third year that local deputies have participated, and Valdivia said that coordinating the blood drive gave him a new awareness of the need for donations.

“You really learn how much people need the donations, and you can’t take it for granted that there’s going to be a supply,” he said.

La Crescenta resident David Broms said that donating blood was not only a chance to help out, but also a teachable moment for his children, because he was given a voucher for a pair of Clippers tickets as thanks for his donation.

“It’s a nice opportunity to take our kids to a game, and let them know it’s because we did a mitzvah, we helped, we donated blood,” he said.

Vouchers for tickets to Clippers and Kings games were provided donors until supplies ran out, Valdivia said.