• 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.

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SOURCE Abbott