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News Release

Last modified: Friday, November 5, 2010

IU Blood Donor Challenge beats goal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 5, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University raised 3,766 units of donated blood during the 14th annual IU Blood Donor Challenge, beating the goal of 3,000 units.

IU Alumni Association chapters, student organizations and constituent societies competed to see which could raise the most units of blood in this friendly challenge, which ended Oct. 22. Representatives from each winning group will be recognized during a special ceremony at Saturday's (Nov. 6) football game between the IU Hoosiers and Iowa Hawkeyes.

Representatives from each winning group will also be at Hoosier Village -- the ultimate IU tailgate destination -- prior to the game.

"We are so grateful to the generous blood donors, volunteers and supporters who made the Blood Donor Challenge possible," said J Thomas Forbes, executive director of the IU Alumni Association. "Together, we contributed 3,766 'pints of life' to our community."

The IU Bloomington Student Alumni Association, co-sponsored by the Coach Hep Cancer Challenge, emerged as the overall Blood Donor Challenge winner, raising 210 units. The IU Northwest Student Alumni Association, co-sponsored by the IU Northwest Student Nurses Association, won in the student organization category with 167 units.

In the alumni chapter category, the Southwest Indiana Chapter of the IU Alumni Association came in on top with 120 units. And, for constituent societies, the IU South Bend Alumni Association, co-sponsored by the IUSB Student Nurses and the IUSB Student Alumni Association, came in first with 115 units.

"We not only met, but far exceeded our goal during this year's IU Blood Donor Challenge," said Jennifer Gentry, director of alumni programs. "Together, we raised 3,766 units. That translates into 11,298 lives saved!"

The Blood Donor Challenge began in 1997 as the IU vs. Purdue Blood Donor Challenge in the Indianapolis area. In the first 12 years, IU and Purdue raised more than 49,000 units of blood. In 2009, the challenge became the IU Blood Donor Challenge and IU alone raised more than 3,000 units. Each unit of blood can save up to three lives, so potentially 156,000 lives have been saved over 13 years of the challenge.

The Blood Donor Challenge was made possible through the collaboration of the IU Alumni Association with the American Red Cross, Indiana Blood Center, South Bend Medical Foundation, Heartland Blood Center and the Richmond Community Blood Center in Indiana; and the Hoxworth Blood Center in Ohio.

The IU 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 more than 540,000 graduates worldwide, the IUAA provides many programs and services to its members, nonmember alumni, and the university. For information, visit https://www.alumni.indiana.edu/ or call 800-824-3044.

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