County Law Enforcement Teams to Race through Desert

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Runners race through desert in the 2011 Challenge Cup Baker to Vegas Relay Race. It’s fun with a competitive edge. Who are you rooting for in the Challenge Cup “Baker to Vegas” Relay Race this weekend? San Diego County Probation and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department are both competing in a grueling 120-mile race through steep terrain and punishing temperatures.

This year, 260 teams are running, which amounts to roughly 10,000 people, including support staff and family who attend, according to Chuck Foote, race coordinator. The Baker to Vegas run started in 1985 and is split into 20 segments. The race is open to law enforcement teams throughout the world.

With so many teams running, the start times are staggered. The Sheriff’s Department will start at 3 p.m. Saturday and Probation will start at 4 p.m. Teams of 20 runners each take a relay segment and run through the night in the desert until they reach their destination.

In last year’s race, extreme temperatures sapped most of the runners and certainly affected team and runner times. Temperatures climbed to 113 degrees in the day or roughly 127 degrees on the blacktop in 2012, but this year temperatures should be right around 95 degrees in the day, said Linda Yoakum-Latimer, Probation team captain.

The Sheriff’s team came in just under 10 minutes after Probation last year.  Probation ran the relay race in 17 hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds and the Sheriff’s team finished at 17 hours, 19 minutes and 59 seconds.

Sheriff team captain Denese Deal expects their overall time will improve considerably this year because they timed everyone who wanted to be on the team and took the top runners for the course. Probation has used this strategy for years, but until last year, the run was more about fun for the Sheriff’s Department than a real competition.

Deal said after nine years of a more casual team, she wanted to step things up and she has had a very positive response from the department as a result. Last year, without timing everyone, the Sheriff’s team shaved 2 ½ hours off their time. This year, all but four of the runners are new, she said.

The star runner on the Probation team this year runs a 6 minutes 30 second mile and the top runner for Sheriff runs a 6 minute 21 second mile.

Both teams have been training going up steep hillsides and mountains. Deal notes that there is no way to truly simulate the terrain and temperatures in the California-Nevada desert.

Probation Chief Mack Jenkins, who ran as an alternate last year, will not be running this year, but he and Assistant Sheriff Mark Elvin will be joining their teams as support staff.

“It’s definitely teamwork and a chance to meet people from around the world. We’re a family. When you have a badge, you’re part of a different family,” said Yoakum-Latimer.

Yoakum-Latimer said this will be the second year Probation helps gather supplies for the Hamberg, Germany police SWAT  team since they can’t bring water, flares or other supplies with them on the plane.

Ferrini: Volunteer of the Year

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Think long-term care is just for the geriatric crowd? Think again.

The number of younger people living in these residential facilities is growing. Already about 14 percent of long-term care residents are between 18 and 64 years old.

Age is not the only thing that differentiates younger adults from their older counterparts in long-term care facilities. Their needs differ too.

How should the younger patients be handled differently? Dr. Rebecca Ferrini, medical director for Edgemoor, the County’s only skilled-nursing facility, has some answers.

Dr. Ferrini led a team of national experts as they explored the best ways to take care of these younger adults. Her project took about six months to complete and resulted in a tool kit that gives advice to nursing homes’ staffs on how to meet the needs of the younger long-term care population.

The project also led to Dr. Ferrini being named the 2012 Volunteer of the Year by the American Medical Directors Association’s Clinical Practice Committee.

“I was surprised and pleased to be honored,” said Dr. Ferrini, “I had undertaken this project due to a passion for caring for younger adults and recognizing this is a growing concern in long-term care.”

The tool kit follows a young male resident from an accident to a successful adjustment in nursing home life. Along the way, readers learn about generational differences that could be as simple as the type of activities and entertainment younger residents need or as complicated as the reasons the younger patient ended up at a skilled-nursing facility in the first place. Typically, younger patients end up there because of chronic, progressive or neurologic illnesses, or physical problems due to injuries.

“We reviewed the literature and found little, but we found some best practices and approaches that worked and were universal across the United States,” added Ferrini. “The final project is readable and interesting and begins the conversation about how to care for the changing population in long-term care.”

A Pizza Party, Blue Jeans and a Double-decker Bus

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Department of Child Support Services employees set up a March of Dimes display at their office in downtown San Diego to generate interest in this year's fundraising campaign. Pictured from left to right are: Theresa Macias, Genoveva Martin, Ada Sanchez and Maria Herrera.

Carl Bell threw a pizza party for his co-workers when they helped him reach the $600 mark for March of Dimes fundraising. The former Director of the Farm & Home Advisor office also helped organize a silent auction fundraiser, and donated to it a box of ceramic pottery handmade by his wife.

Maria Herrera secured the OK from the director of her department, Child Support Services, to sell “Blue Jeans for Babies” stickers to her co-workers to raise money. She then sold dozens of the $2 stickers, which allow employees to wear jeans to work for the day.  

Probation’s Kenneth Carr got 70 friends and family members together for a fundraiser pub crawl. Each person contributed $40, a portion of which went to the charity. Then Carr got his aunt’s company to double match the sum raised.

While many County employees rely on traditional fundraising tactics, others have gotten more creative in their efforts to support March of Dimes campaigns in recent years. These efforts have helped make the County one of the 75-year-old nonprofit’s biggest regional supporters. Over the past 10 years, County-supported fundraising campaigns have collected $538,718. Bell, Herrera and Carr were among the top individual fundraisers at the County in the last few years.

Hundreds of County employees are expected to participate in the County’s March of Dimes fundraising campaign again this year by walking in the organization’s biggest annual fundraiser, the March for Babies. The 5K walk is scheduled for Saturday, April 13 in Oceanside and Saturday, April 27 at Balboa Park. To register for one of the events or make a donation to your group’s team, visit the March for Babies page on InSite.

The 75-year-old March of Dimes has been at the forefront of improving the health of mothers and babies since its start. President Franklin Roosevelt founded the organization in 1938 with the goal of ending the polio epidemic. With that goal achieved, the March of Dimes today works more broadly to improve the health of moms and babies.

Bell raised $1,133 in a recent campaign, earning him a spot among the County’s top individual fundraisers. Bell said he and his wife decided a few years ago to “devote a certain amount of money to charitable activities.”

“We set aside our own target and each found worthy causes,” Bell said.

As the former acting Farm & Home Advisor, Bell had encouraged colleagues to contribute to the March of Dimes campaign by offering a pizza party if his unit came up with at least $600 to match his contribution. They did.

They also organized a successful silent auction. Employees brought in items from home, including CDs, jewelry, tableware and cooking utensils.  Bell came across a box of his wife’s pottery, which she had made in college. The items proved popular, fetching up to $50 apiece.   

The Farm & Home Advisor’s office is planning a March of Dimes silent auction again this year. The event will take place April 22 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the County Operations Center, 5530 Overland Ave., Room 124. It’s open to all County employees.

A lot of good natured camaraderie among the LUEG department heads helped fuel the effort, Bell said.

What about any personal connections to the cause? Yes, Bell’s son, now 33 years old, was born with a congenital heart defect and almost died at 10 days old.

Herrera, a Legal Support Assistant in Child Support Services has also been a top fundraiser at the County, after collecting $1,005 for the charity last year. She said she has seen how the March of Dimes benefits mothers and babies first hand. Her step son was born premature.

“I saw how helpless a little baby is like that when they are premature and how much difference it makes to have March of Dimes involved in programs that help mothers,” she said. “I love children and see that if there’s any way we can help, we should, because children are our future.”

Carr, a Deputy Probation Officer in the Department of Probation, raised one of the largest sums of all County employees last year with $1,700. He said his inspiration was very personal, as well. His younger brother died at the age of two and a half from a heart defect.

So Carr, who had recently moved to San Diego from Philadelphia, decided to do something about six years ago. He started organizing a St. Patrick’s themed pub crawl and donated part of the proceeds to the March of Dimes. The annual event has more than doubled in size since he created it.

“I started with a 30 person school bus, now we use a 70 person double-decker bus and have a waiting list,” Carr said.

In organizing the event, Carr called around to Irish pubs in search of discounts. He made up T-shirts and charged each person $40, a portion of it going to the March of Dimes. His parents even flew out from Philadelphia for the event. His aunt’s company, Johnson & Johnson, then double matched the amount raised.   

Another recent top fundraiser, Sarah Aghassi, said her inspiration came from children, too. The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer/General Manager for the Land Use & Environment Group (LUEG) raised $1,765 as part of a recent campaign.

Aghassi said children hold a very special place in her heart. They have such incredible insight and honesty and look at the world with curiosity and excitement, she said.

“Healthy babies provide the foundation for kids to be kids,” she said. “And the March of Dimes is a great organization to help.”

Aghassi said she raised the funds by asking family and friends to support the cause. She asked them to think about how important healthy babies have been in their lives, whether their own or a loved one.

Other recent top fundraisers have included Leonard Pinson, a project manager for the Department of General Services, and Eric Lardy, a Staff Officer for LUEG.

For more information or to donate or participate, visit the March of Dimes page on InSite.

Blood: The Gift of Life

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Some of you do it because you feel it’s the right thing to do. Some of you do it because you were asked by a friend.

The need for blood is constant. Can you help? You could help save someone’s life.

The 29th Annual County Employee Blood Drive starts Wednesday, April 3, and takes place at seven locations throughout the month.  All employees are encouraged to donate blood and you can ask family members or friends to donate too.

“The response from County employees is amazing year after year,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox, a lifelong donor who has made more than 120 donations over the years. “Employees make the annual County Blood Drive one of the San Diego Blood Bank's largest and most successful collection events.”

Last year, County employees donated more than 260 pints of blood during the blood drive, a figure organizers hope to surpass.  You can use County time to give blood if you ask your supervisor for approval in advance.  

The donations are critical to trauma patients or people who suffer from life-threatening blood disorders like aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia and leukemia.

“We don’t know when anyone is going to need blood. People could need blood for so many different reasons,” said Juan Olmeda, a border health assistant at the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) who needed blood transfusions when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009. Olmeda required a bone marrow transplant from his sister in order to survive.

His diagnosis rendered Olmeda unable to donate his blood, something he had been doing for years. Instead, Olmeda asked his two children and some friends to donate blood in his name.

“It’s a way to give something to the community,” said Olmeda, whose office has been spearheading the blood drive for the past nine years. “It’s free and everybody can give it because we all have blood.”

Donors of all blood types are needed. Up to three people can make use your one blood donation.

“Donating blood is such a powerful act, and really embodies the spirit of Live Well, San Diego!, the County’s regional wellness initiative” said Nick Macchione, HHSA director.  “When County employees give blood, they are supporting a healthier, safer and more thriving San Diego County.”

You can make an appointment on line or walk-in. The list of dates and locations is below.

County Administration Center, Wednesday, April 3, from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

North County Regional Complex, Tuesday, April 9, from 9 am to 2 pm.

County Operations Center – Overland, Wednesday, April 10, from 9 am to 2:30 pm.

County Health & Human Services, Lemon Grove, Tuesday, April 16, from 11:30 am to 2 pm.

HHSA/PHS California Children Services, Tuesday, April 16, from 7 to 9:30 am

Health Services Complex, Friday, April 19, from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

County Health & Human Services, Chula Vista, Thursday, April 25, from 9 am to 2 pm.