Adventist Health and Rideout Associate Makes a Difference in Community

On his 52nd birthday, Brian Davis asked the Yuba City community to donate 52 pairs of shoes to give to those in need. The community answered, delivering 250 pairs of shoes to Davis's cause.

Davis, a longtime employee at Adventist Health and Rideout, has been a leader in serving his community of Yuba City ever since he arrived 18 years ago. Most recently, Davis will be starting a non-profit, Be Xtra, that will expand his donation efforts. He will also be speaking at the Push Play Experience: Personal Development and Leadership Summit in February 2024 in Yuba City.

Davis is originally from Lansing, Michigan. He moved to Yuba City to work at Adventist Health and Rideout as a PACS Administrator in the Imaging department, which he still manages today. As Davis says, he’s “the geek in the background.”

Upon moving, Davis became a boys basketball coach at Yuba City High School.

“I was a coach back home in Lansing, but I started coaching high school my first year that I came out here,” Davis said. He then went on to coach varsity at Yuba City High, and currently coaches in Colusa.

“That’s how I am reliving my youth. I don’t have to hurt my knees and all of that,” Davis laughed.

Being a basketball coach first introduced Davis to community service in Yuba City. Davis said he connected with the players on his team and saw them grow up and face struggles. He stayed connected to his players and became a resource for the young men he coached.

“It’s pretty much guys from 18 to 30 now. I have players go on and do great things and some players that have some struggles,” Davis said. “It made me reach out a little bit more to the community and once I did that, I found out a whole bunch of stuff.”

Davis also introduces his teams to community service. On Christmas and Thanksgiving in Colusa, the team will give away baskets with Habitat for Humanity to families in need.

“It’s super rewarding, because you can bring up a kid who might have a bad attitude at one point. But now they see that it is not just about them and they get to see a bunch of different stuff,” Davis said.

The non-profit organization Davis is starting began with his birthday request for shoe donations.

“So, I was just asking people on social media for a birthday gift to just donate a pair of shoes to me so I can give them out," Davis said. “And it blew up. Now I am going to take that, because people kept giving me shoes, and turn it into a non-profit.”

Davis has been taking the shoes out to Riverfront Park in Marysville every Friday and giving them out to those in need. He also donates shoes through social media to people who reach out to him.

“It’s fun! It’s rewarding,” Davis said. “Watching them smile and that kind of thing, it’s just a great thing to see.”

With the non-profit, Davis will be expanding his donation to more than just shoes. He also wants to grow the area in which he gives out donations beyond Yuba City.

“With this non-profit, now I can extend the legs a little bit. Because my whole thing is making it contagious right?” Davis said. “So, I am telling you. You go tell someone else and then somebody over here is donating shirts.

“It’s just connecting dots.”

Davis said working as Adventist Health and Rideout has helped him so much in building his community service. The Street Nursing program has been especially helpful in showing Davis where to find people in need.

The Street Nursing team also provides medical care at Riverfront Park in Marysville every Friday alongside Davis’s donation efforts.

Davis is also an established public speaker. Most recently, Davis became involved in the Push Play Experience: Personal Development and Leadership Summit. The summit’s coordinator, Kristina Cruz, asked Davis if he could give a speech to bring more awareness to the community service that he is engaged in.

Davis's goal for the speech is to talk about overcoming personal struggles and mental health. His passion for community service has been driven by his past struggles. All the experiences he had to face in his life made him want to help whoever he could.

Davis wants to spread this passion to the rest of his community and make it stronger.

“You always have hope,” Davis said. “So, things are going to be bad. You are going to hit a bump in the road. Always.

“But get back up. You're not alone. Mostly everybody has some trauma or some struggle. Let’s just connect and build each other back up.”