Gamers Needed to Meet Blood Supply Shortage
Inova Blood Donor Services Calls on Gamers to Boost Blood Supplies on World Blood Donor
Falls Church, VA – To help engage a new generation of young donors, Inova Blood Donor Services has partnered with Team Liquid, a multi-regional, professional esports organization with a national fanbase of more than seven million gamers. This program has been funded through a generous grant from The Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation. On World Blood Donor Day, celebrated June 14, Inova Blood Donor Services is highlighting the critical need for blood donations on a regular basis.
Patients across the nation may be in trouble. That is because the pool of donors providing millions of Americans with life-saving blood is declining at a significant rate. Roughly 45% of the nation’s blood donors are over 50 years old, and as the population ages, donations are fewer and donor organizations find it harder to maintain the levels needed to save lives.
The Inova Blood Donor Services Team Liquid partnership takes aim at a key demographic – because less than 20% of blood donations are from millennials (age 20-34 years), and young males donate at even less frequent rates.
“Patient care is a community effort and in order to provide adequate care, a steady supply of blood is a necessity,” said Nicholas Lilly, Director of Inova Blood Donor Services in Sterling, VA. “Donating pays it forward; you or someone you love may need blood someday and just one donation could help up to three lives.”
Custom, limited edition “Team Liquid Turns Red” t-shirts will be offered to everyone who donates at one of our locations during specific events.
“We’re proud to partner with Blood Centers of America and its members on this life-saving initiative,” said Team Liquid’s CEO, Steve Arhancet. “Our fans are such a supportive, tight-knit community, and now we’re calling on them to help us accomplish something bigger than what we could achieve in any competition. Collectively, we have the opportunity to make a measurable impact on communities as well as save lives.”
The need for blood is significant. Every two seconds, an American needs blood. One whole pint of blood can save three or more lives. As the primary blood provider for the Washington, DC Metropolitan area Inova Blood Donor Services ensures donated blood reaches patients at hospitals and health systems nationwide.
“Many people don’t realize that blood has a limited shelf life and cannot be artificially manufactured. Hospitals are constantly in blood from volunteer donors. For most donors, the entire process, including registration before and snacks after the donation, usually takes less than an hour ,” said Lilly. “The Heal for Real Campaign is a perfect opportunity for individuals that are active in the gaming community to come out and help heal patients by donating blood.”
To find a donation event near you, visit https://www.inovablood.org/healforreal/
Media Contact: Tracy Connell, tracy.connell@inova.org, 703-289-2087
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Inova is Northern Virginia’s leading nonprofit healthcare provider, employing more than 18,000 team members and serving more than 2 million individuals annually through an integrated network of hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency and urgent care centers, outpatient services and destination institutes such as the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, Inova Schar Cancer Institute and Inova Neuroscience and Spine Institute. Our mission is to provide world-class healthcare – every time, every touch – to each person in every community we have the privilege to serve.
Inova Blood Donor Services plays a critical role in the region by supporting the majority of hospitals in the Washington DC metro region, including all Inova hospitals, with a safe and adequate blood supply for patients in the diverse community we serve. To support the needs of the region, Inova Blood Donor Services must collect 200 units a day from generous blood, platelet, plasma and double red cell donors. More information and statistics about Inova Blood Donor Services can be found at inovablood.org.
About Team Liquid
Team Liquid was founded in 2000 and has evolved into one of the leading international multigame esports teams with training centers in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Los Angeles, California. Team Liquid has over 65 athletes competing across 17 distinct games, including all major esports titles, such as DOTA 2, League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, PUBG and more. Led by Co-CEOs Steve Arhancet and Victor Goossens, Team Liquid is one of the most successful esports teams in the Western market in terms of competitive achievement and fan engagement across multiple sports. Their League of Legends franchise is undefeated in North America in 2018 and 2019, claiming LCS titles in back-to-back splits and a second place finish at the international tournament the Mid-Season Invitational, while their CS:GO team is currently ranked #1 in the world. For more information: https://goo.gl/dSYvHT.
In addition to the premier esports team franchise, Liquid Enterprises operates various business units created to complement its esports athletic brand. This includes influencer management agency, Liquipedia, Liquid Media, and 1UP Studios, the full service production company known for its high-quality esports documentary style filmmaking, and creative commercial content.
Controlling interest in Team Liquid was recently purchased by esports ownership group, aXiomatic. aXiomatic leadership includes Co-Executive Chairmen Peter Guber, Ted Leonsis, Jeff Vinik and Bruce Karsh who together represent an unparalleled team of sports, technology, entertainment and investment industry titans.
About Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation
Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation is a freestanding private foundation dedicated to advancing the art and science of transfusion medicine with a mission of championing excellence in transfusion medicine. It is our hope that, through our mission, we build a stronger community of hospitals, health care providers, and patients.
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