Last modified: Friday, September 8, 2006
IU and Purdue begin annual “battle for blood"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 8, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — This fall, alumni and fans of Indiana and Purdue universities can truly say that the schools' rivalry is in their blood.
The annual Indiana vs. Purdue Blood Donor Challenge, a friendly competition that encourages Indiana residents to donate blood, begins Sept. 18 and concludes Nov. 10. Participants can donate blood in the name of either university at Indiana Blood Center, American Red Cross, South Bend Medical Foundation, Heartland Blood Center or Community Blood Center locations.
The university with the most blood donations will be honored at the Old Oaken Bucket football game between IU and Purdue on Nov. 18.
This year's competition is the 10th Blood Donor Challenge. IU won last year's contest, which had a record 7,669 participants. Purdue leads the series 6-3. Honorary chairwomen for this year's challenge are Jane Hoeppner, wife of IU football coach Terry Hoeppner; and Arnette Tiller, wife of Purdue coach Joe Tiller.
Donors can go to any of 25 participating blood donor centers across Indiana. Participating centers are located in Anderson, Avon, Bloomington, Carmel, Columbus, Evansville, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Goshen, Griffith, Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, Kokomo, Lafayette, Merrillville, Mishawaka, Richmond, Shelbyville, South Bend and Terre Haute. For addresses and phone numbers of participating blood donor centers, visit www.alumni.indiana.edu/events/challenge.
Donors should make sure to identify the school for which they are donating.
The Blood Donor Challenge began in 1997 in the Indianapolis area and has since grown to encompass the entire state. Since 1997, more than 32,000 donors have participated. The Blood Donor Challenge is made possible through the collaboration of the IU Alumni Association, Purdue Alumni Association, Indiana Blood Center, American Red Cross, Heartland Blood Center, Richmond Community Blood Center and the South Bend Medical Foundation.
The Indiana University Alumni Association is dedicated to serving the university and its diverse alumni, students and friends. As one of the nation's largest alumni organizations, serving nearly 490,000 graduates worldwide, the IUAA provides many programs and services to its members, non-member alumni and the university. For information, visit www.alumni.indiana.edu or call (800) 824-3044.
