- Nearly 20,000 Big Ten students, alumni and fans across the
country donated blood as part of the Abbott-Big Ten nationwide
competition this college football season, helping save as many as
60,000 lives
- Nebraska's win was announced
at the Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game where the
university received $1 million from
global healthcare company Abbott to advance student and community
health
- The competition, which will be back next fall, aims to help
combat the greatest need for blood in a generation, while also
helping create new lifelong blood donors
ABBOTT PARK, Ill., and
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 7, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- This college football season, Abbott (NYSE: ABT)
and the Big Ten put fandom and the hearts of Big Ten
communities to the test with their inaugural blood donation
competition, "The We Give Blood Drive."
Nearly 20,000 Big Ten students, alumni and fans across the
country donated blood as part of the competition. With each
donation saving up to three lives, the competition helped save as
many as 60,000 lives. The competition did its part to help
alleviate current nationwide blood shortages and educate people
about the need for blood while inspiring blood donations across the
country.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln
took home the win, accepting "The We Give Blood Drive" trophy
during the Discover Big Ten Championship Game, as well as a
$1 million check from global
healthcare company Abbott, which the university will use to advance
student and community health.
"There are many reasons I'm proud to be a Nebraskan, and this is
one of them," said University of
Nebraska President Jeffrey P.
Gold, M.D. "As a cardiac surgeon, I have seen time and time
again how important life-saving blood products can be, and as the
president of the University of
Nebraska, I've also seen first-hand the generosity of spirit
and passion for helping others shared by so many of our students,
faculty and staff. It doesn't hurt that Nebraskans also really like
to win."
"These past few months, we've watched students across the Big
Ten step up and commit to donating blood, many of them first-time
donors," said Robert Ford, chairman
and chief executive officer, Abbott. "Our goal was to have a fun
competition between schools to help address the largest blood
shortage in a generation and create the next generation of blood
donors. Big Ten students, alumni and fans rolled up their sleeves
and did just that, saving tens of thousands of lives."
"The We Give Blood Drive" aims to help build the next generation
of blood donors during a time when the nation is experiencing one
of the biggest blood shortages in a generation and has seen the
rate of donors between 19- and 24-years-old drop by nearly a third
in recent years. More than half of donors at "The We Give Blood
Drive" campus blood drives donated blood for the first time.
Blood donations are needed for a wide variety of medical
reasons, including trauma and accident victims, individuals
receiving cancer treatment, mothers after childbirth, and premature
babies like Lincoln, Nebraska,
native Genevieve Wright, now 9.
During the first month of her life, Genevieve received multiple
transfusions and constant blood products after being born with a
rare condition called severe hydrops fetalis, giving her less than
a 2% chance of survival.
"Blood donation is imperative for so many, including my little
girl who would not be here today without the generosity of
countless Nebraskans who donated the blood that saved her life,"
said Genevieve's mother Shelly
Wright, of Lincoln. "These
donations gave Genevieve the chance to grow, thrive and have a full
life – and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for
that."
The X's and O's
"Thank you to the nearly
20,000 people across the country who showed up to donate blood
during this critical time when the nation is experiencing one of
the biggest blood shortages in a generation," said Tony Petitti, Big Ten Conference Commissioner.
"Congratulations to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln on winning the $1
million grant to advance student or community health!
Together, tens of thousands of lives will be saved. We are all
grateful to Abbott for their important work and for their
partnership with the Big Ten Conference."
"The We Give Blood Drive" blood donation competition ran
throughout the college football season, from Sept. 26 through Dec. 6, and will be back again
next football season. Donation totals were tracked live and final
results by school are available at BigTen.Org/Abbott.
Participants donated blood on campus and at blood centers around
the U.S. and uploaded proof of donation to the campaign website in
order to have their donation count for their Big Ten school.
Participants were entered into the sweepstakes, which raffled off
two tickets to the Discover Big Ten Championship Game – and
received a free one-month subscription to B1G+, the Conference's
streaming service.
About the Big Ten Conference:
The Big Ten Conference
is an association of world-class universities whose member
institutions share a common mission of research, graduate,
professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded
in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared
practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in
the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and
emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness.
The Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official sports, 14 for men and
14 for women, and the broad-based programs of the 18 Big Ten
institutions provide direct financial support for more than 14,000
student-athletes. For more information, visit BigTen.org.
About Abbott:
Abbott is a global healthcare leader
that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our
portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of
healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics,
medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our
114,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.
Connect with us at www.abbott.com and
on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Youtube.
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SOURCE Abbott