The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Wisconsin are neck and neck in the Big Ten Conference’s “We Give Blood" challenge. The conference is hosting the annual blood drive in coordination with pharmaceutical company Abbott.
The We Give Blood challenge is a national campaign aiming to combat critical blood shortages and encourage younger generations to become blood donors.
During the competition, all 18 Big Ten universities compete for a chance to win $1 million to support student and community health projects. As of Thursday afternoon, Nebraska had just over 14,000 donors, trailing Wisconsin’s 15,000 donors. The competition closes at the end of the day on Friday.
Crystal Nuss, an operations lead at the Nebraska Community Blood Bank, hopes that this challenge creates lifelong donors.
“We're always in need of blood,” Nuss said. “So doing the Big 10 [Challenge], I think is getting a lot of people out that haven't donated for a long time, and hopefully that'll get them to donate a little bit more regularly.”
In 2024 more than 20,000 Big Ten donors participated in the competition helping to save an estimated 60,000 lives. Nebraska had nearly 4,000 donors, winning the competition and earning $1 million.
“When they are doing drives through UNL, I think that they [students] get a little bit of an incentive to donate,” Nuss said. “We’ve had a lot better turnout this year than we did last year.”
Madalyn Schoneman, a senior at UNL, has regularly given blood, inspired by her family.
“I donated most recently during homecoming week. And I actually really enjoyed it. It's one of those things where you just kind of feel good after you do it,” Schoneman said. “It's kind of like when you go to the gym, and then afterwards, you're like ‘oh I’m productive with my day.’”
Husker fans can learn more and count their blood donation to Nebraska’s total here.