Hoosiers will challenge the other 17 Big Ten schools to see how much blood each school can donate from Sept. 26 to Dec. 6. The Big Ten Conference and Abbott, a global healthcare company, announced its joint donation drive, “The We Give Blood Drive,” on Thursday.
This is a competitive, conference-wide blood drive for students, alumni and fans of Big Ten schools to determine which fan base can donate the most blood during the football season. The winning school will receive a $1 million reward to support the winning schools’ student and community health.
Abbott’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Ford, Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady announced the joint effort at a press conference Thursday in Rosemont, Illinois.
“I want to continue to encourage all the young people to make this part of their giving back in school,” Brady said at the press conference. “I’m excited to see all the schools step up. I want to see them make a difference both as individuals and as a group of individuals at a school that can give back to a very big cause that we are all in need of.”
According to Big Ten and Abbott’s website, there is currently a national shortage of blood, specifically a lack in donations from younger people. The issue is increasing due to older generations becoming less able to donate blood and younger generations are not actively participating as much as the older generation. Abbott wanted to partner with the Big Ten to increase blood donations from the younger generation.
For the competition, mobile blood drives will be available on campuses, and people can also donate blood at blood donation centers. The location and dates for blood donation centers at IU are yet to be announced.
The Red Cross Blood Donation website allows people to find blood drives in their area. For a fan’s donation to count toward the competition, they must visit the drive’s website to submit information regarding their donation.
According to the Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the U.S. is in need of a blood transfusion. Through the challenge, Ford said the ultimate goal is to rebuild the nation’s blood supply.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, each donation can save up to three lives. On the website, this information is depicted by a continuous tracker of the number of donations from each of the 18 universities and the total lives saved from these donations.
Individual donors will be eligible for a free one-month subscription to the Big Ten Network Plus streaming service and entered for the chance to win a trip to the 2024 Big Ten Football Championship game in Indianapolis. The winning school will be presented with the prize money at The Big Ten Championship game Dec. 7.
