Health Programs

Operation H.E.L.P.

Operation HELP (Hospital Equipment Liaison Project) is like Disney's timeless classic of Robin Hood, taking from those who have and giving to those who don't. Farm Bureau created Operation HELP with this concept in mind--helping small, rural hospitals obtain equipment needed to continue effectively serving rural residents and travelers.

Operation HELP joins hospitals, doctors, and farmers in an effort to support medical facilities by acquiring tax-deductible donations from doctors or large urban facilities that have used -but usable- equipment gathering dust in storage areas. The program fills this void by maintaining lists of needed equipment from smaller hospitals and pairing them with retiring physicians and hospitals willing to clear out older equipment. Once these matches have been made, CFBF will contact both parties. It is then the responsibility of the two medical facilities to arrange transportation of donated equipment. Rural hospitals' needs are abundant. Requests vary from gurneys and fetal monitors to color TVs and computers.

For More Information
Contact operationhelp@cfbf.com or 916-561-5590.

Success Stories

Reyna Del Haro of Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park, left, makes the donation to Jane Lisk, administrator of Dermatology Specialists Inc.

Rural residents will benefit from improved psoriasis treatment, thanks to a donation coordinated by Operation H.E.L.P. Kaiser Permanente of Baldwin Park donated an Ultralite Full Body Phototherapy Unit PH 10AB, with an assessed value of $10,000, for treatment of psoriasis.

The equipment was transferred on Sept. 10, 2003, and is now being utilized in Fallbrook at Dermatology Specialists Inc.

The transfer was initiated when Kaiser responded to our program, indicating it had the light-box donation. Operation H.E.L.P. then conducted a recipient search in Southern California near the donating facility. After numerous conversations among the two parties and the California Farm Bureau Federation, a transfer was made.

Kaiser Permanente is a nonprofit organization with a long history of giving back to local communities. CFBF would like to thank it for joining with us in helping to keep our rural areas of California healthy.

For More Information
Visit www.psoriasis.org.

Farm Stress Management

With low agricultural prices overall stress levels for California farmers are at all time highs.

If you are farming and in jeopardy of losing your operation it is truly a demoralizing feeling. We have been investigating ways to relieve some of the strain farmers and their families are experiencing. It's important that our members are provided with hopeful options and solid system of support.

Toward that goal we are assembling a contacts, resources and web links that you may find helpful to address some of these problems.

For More Information
View our section on farm stress.