Local Businessmen Raise Money for Mobile Blood Donation

Two area businessmen will be making a major donation from the City of Angels Fun Ride to the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center in Westwood during an Aug. 8 ceremony. 

Peter Heumann of Calabasas and Howie Neftin of Westlake Village will be presenting checks totaling $35,000 in proceeds.

Heumann launched the charity bike ride, which is sponsored by Volkswagen of America, 16 years ago. Over the past three years, the ride has raised for UCLA over $100,000, with major support from Neftin, who owns Neftin Volkswagen of Thousand Oaks, on behalf of the Southern California Volkswagen dealers association.  

“Blood and platelet donation is not a sexy topic nor does it draw major donors’ attention," said Heumann, whose day job is working as a private mortgage banker for Wells Fargo in Encino. "Yet it's the fuel that makes medical miracles happen.  That is why I choose to donate to the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.” 

The money will support Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center's mobile blood donation program, which collects some 22,000 units of blood a year, supplying half of the blood transfusions for patients at UCLA Health System’s hospitals. By transporting beds and equipment, the truck enables the center to staff community blood drives throughout the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley area.