BP Celebrates Two Important Anniversaries
Coincidentally, November features the work anniversaries of two of our favorite people: Loren Bast, our beloved Executive Director who makes miracles happen, and Anne LeSage, the multitasking wizard also known as Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Bainbridge Island.
For Loren, it is the 5th-year anniversary at the helm of BP. And Anne is celebrating her 5th year with the City.
Both led BP’s more than 700 volunteers through the COVID years, earning recognition for BP from the Bainbridge Community Foundation with its 2021 Humanitarian Award and from the International Association of Emergency Managers as the National Emergency Management Voluntary Organization of 2022.
Loren Bast wearing the MRC’s Dr. Chymiy’s lab coat.
During COVID—in partnership with COBI, BIFD, and the BI Community Pharmacy—BP helped facilitate and operate more than 88 vaccination clinics administering upwards of 38,000 vaccines. Vaccine clinics were held almost weekly from January to June of 2021, and then booster clinics were held in the fall of 2021 and in 2022 as well.
The duo have also overseen many emergency preparedness projects including
the establishment of more than 180 Map Your Neighborhood groups on the island,
offering hundreds of CPR/AED, Stop the Bleed, and other types of trainings to volunteers and the community,
creating and stocking disaster hubs around the island,
development of an emergency flotilla, and
Day of Preparedness events and Great Shakeout exercises.
Before joining BP, Loren served as BP’s Community Outreach Team Lead. Previously, he founded Bellusi LLC, a tech and business consulting firm for startups and small businesses, and he was the Business Intelligence Manager at The Seattle Times.
Anne came to Bainbridge from UC Irvine where she served as Director of Emergency Management for seven years and Business Continuity Program Manager for about two years. She formerly worked as Senior Planner, Public Health Preparedness, for Dallas County Health & Human Services.
Featured photo shows BIFD Chief Jared Moravec, Anne LeSage, and BP Founder/Board Chair Scott James.
