University of Nebraska leads in Big Ten Conference blood donation competition
The school whose fans make the most blood donations by Dec. 6 will receive a $1 million donation.
Schools from across the Big Ten Conference are competing to see who can get the most students, alumni, and supporters to donate blood. The University of Nebraska has taken an early lead in the competition for the $1 million grand prize.
The We Give Blood Drive, a joint effort between the Big Ten and the pharmaceutical company Abbott, aims to help address a national blood supply shortage. In August, the American Red Cross announced an emergency, citing climate-related threats to the blood supply and the lowest blood donorship levels in 20 years.
The drive began on Sept. 26, coinciding with the start of the college football season. Anyone who makes a blood donation can earn credit for their school by submitting a donation photo or donation receipt by Dec. 6. Drives are also being held on the campuses of the 18 Big Ten member universities. The school with the most donations at the end of the drive will earn a $1 million donation to boost student and community health.
In a video message, Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule encouraged Cornhuskers fans to participate. “Give blood this season and you could help save up to three lives each time,” he urged. “Let’s make Husker Nation the No. 1 blood donor in the Big Ten.”
According to the drive’s donation leaderboard, more than 1,800 donors have heeded his call to date. This is nearly double the roughly 900 donations by fans of the University of Wisconsin, the current second-place school.
“I started donating blood because my younger brother was born with a heart defect that required three open heart surgeries,” Adam Luke, a first-year University of Nebraska student, told the Daily Nebraskan on Oct. 11. “He was kept alive by blood donations so that’s always something I’ve been passionate about. I’m not the best with needles and the process is a bit uncomfortable for me, but I’m able to tough it out because I know it’s really helping people.”
“This sort of thing is exactly the kind that Nebraska fans take a great deal of pride in,” Oliver Vandervoort wrote on the fan site Husker Corner. “There’s no reason to think they won’t be in first place when the winner is announced at the Big Ten Championship game.”
In addition to helping increase their school’s chances at the grand prize, donors who participate early in the drive will receive a free month of access to B1G+, the conference’s streaming sports service, and will be entered in a sweepstakes for a trip for two to the Dec. 7 Big Ten Football Championship game.
