September 2026 - ImpactLife

Saving Young Lives - One Transfusion at a Time

“I show true respect to the people that helped me… I’m ever grateful.”

Every September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month shines a light on children with cancer and the challenges they face. Blood is medicine for so many of those cancer warriors, and our blood products help them keep up the good fight.

One such child was Aiden Howard-Maul, who was only four years old when he received a Stage 3 Nephroblastoma diagnosis. He underwent surgery to have his kidney, part of his liver, and a lymph node removed, followed by radiation and chemo treatments. Further scans showed spots on his right lung and lymph nodes. The chemo treatments would wipe out his platelets and red blood cells, and he was the recipient of several blood transfusions.

Now in remission for more than a decade, we were grateful for the opportunity to check in on Aiden, who shows no signs of slowing down.

WE GIVE BLOOD is Back!

It's time for Abbott and Big Ten Conference’s WE GIVE BLOOD drive, and we’re proud to champion blood donation all football season long! It’s a chance to save lives while supporting your favorite Big Ten football team! Give blood (beginning August 12) through noon on December 4, and then submit proof of your donation between August 26-December 4 to receive a limited-edition t-shirt, provided by Abbott, while supplies last!

Big Ten schools will compete for a $1 million grant by registering the greatest number of donors among Big Ten institutions across the country during the upcoming Big Ten football season. This is the third year of the competition: Year 1 Nebraska won, and Year 2 Wisconsin won!

Every donation made during the competition (August 12 through December 4 at noon) scores one point for the Big Ten school designated by the donor on the leaderboard.

Learn more at www.bloodcenter.org/bigten.

As a new fall semester kicks off, our team hit the ground running across central Illinois to welcome students back and build lifesaving momentum for the school year ahead.

During Welcome Week, we connected with passionate students ready to make an impact. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, our student ambassadors took to Quad Day last Sunday to share how easy it is to schedule a donation and represent the Fighting Illini in the Abbott and Big Ten "We Give Blood" Drive competition.

Down the road in Bloomington-Normal, the enthusiasm continued at Illinois State University on Tuesday and Heartland Community College on Wednesday where students, faculty, and student leaders lined up to support campus drives and step up for local patients.

And further down south, St. Louis University kicked off the semester with an Involvement Fair and blood drive last week.

Our ABO Initiative is a way for students to be part of something bigger.

Learn More Here!

ABO Initiative In Action

Damarius Blanks, Donor Relations Account Manager
Michelle Trunnell, Donor Relations Manager
ABO Initiative In Action
Alexis Wood, Donor Relations Account Manager
Joanna Chong, Student Intern Ambassador
Damarius Blanks and Alexis Wood, Donor Relations Account Managers
Damarius Blanks, Donor Relations Account Manager
Claire Moon, Student Intern Ambassadors
Claire Moon and Joanna Chong, Student Intern Ambassadors, and Michelle Trunnell, Donor Relations Manager
ABO Initiative In Action
ABO Initiative In Action
Chad Sabin, Community Development Advocate and Damarius Blanks, Donor Relations Account Manager
ABO Initiative In Action
Michelle Trunnell, Donor Relations Manager

WE'RE STRONGER TOGETHER

September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Right now, more than 100,000 Americans are living with this hereditary blood disorder. Patients with sickle cell disease can experience painful sickle cell crises, for which blood transfusions are a common form of treatment. It's why blood donors are so important.

Throughout the month of September, we highlight our Red4Life sickle cell program - our focus on recruiting more diverse donors to help more sickle cell patients. Through donation, advocacy, and hosting drives, the efforts of our Red4Life partners mean the world to someone living with sickle cell disease.

We recently refreshed our T-shirt offerings, which now include not only our striking “Red4Life” logo shirt (quantities are limited), but the new strong and simple “Stronger Together” message. Both shirts are available on our Donor Loyalty store, and can be redeemed for 800 points each.

Five years of BERC

Five Years of BERC

In September of 2021, the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC) was formed as a group of blood centers across the nation, committed to joining together to be prepared for mass transfusion disasters that may strike. As a member of BERC, our commitment includes collecting extra units on a rotating “on call” schedule to create an available supply of blood for emergency needs.

BERC was established with seven participating blood centers.
The group has since grown to include 38 blood centers representing nearly every state in the U.S. over the last five years.
BERC has been activated on 18 occasions since 2021, responding to mass casualty events and natural disasters alike.
Members have provided more than 1600 units of blood to help meet immediate needs following a spike in blood utilization or natural disaster that restricts the rate of blood donation in a particular region.
BERC members go "on call" for one week, once every three weeks, to support any potential BERC activation on a rotating basis throughout the year. This means BERC members must be able to meet local needs and have additional inventory ready to ship at a moment's notice, emphasizing the need for a strong and stable blood supply at all times.

Learn more information, including a list of past BERC Activations, here!

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

¡Salva vidas, donar sangre!

September 15 to October 15 marks National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated to honor the culture, history, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans.

Whether it be specific antigen-matched blood to CMV negative blood, as a community blood center, we are reliant on - and grateful for - a strong and diverse donor base making contributions to saving lives. As such, we've created communications materials specifically with our Spanish-speaking community in mind, and assembled them into the "Donar Sangre" initiative kit for blood drive coordinators.

Learn More Here!

Inspiring Future Lifesavers

Tori Tebbitt, Account Manager
Kirby Winn, Public Relations Manager
Kirby Winn, Public Relations Manager

Future lifesavers got an inside look at blood donation as we welcomed members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley last month for a behind-the-scenes visit to our Davenport headquarters.

The group explored how blood is collected, tested, and prepared for patients, all while learning how blood donors make a lifesaving difference every day. Each student also had the opportunity to learn their blood type!

By connecting with young people early, we're helping inspire the next generation of blood donors and community leaders. We can't wait to see these future lifesavers roll up their sleeves in the years ahead!

Thank the Donor

"Thank you for donating your blood! It makes me feel so much better! I appreciate you!"

The work you do every day makes a difference for patients who count on blood products. Our Thank the Donor program gives patients a direct line to the donors who showed up for them. Sometimes, the simplest of words can convey the strongest of messages.

Partners for Life Newsletter September 2026