Owensboro, KY – June 14, 2019 – Patients across the nation are in trouble. The pool of donors providing millions of Americans with life-saving blood is declining at a detrimental rate. Roughly 45% of the nation’s blood donors are over 50 years old, and as the population ages, it gets harder to maintain the levels needed to save lives.
This World Blood Donor Day, celebrated June 14, WKRBC is highlighting the critical need for regular blood donations. And to help engage a new generation of young donors, WKRBC has partnered with Team Liquid, a multi-regional, professional esports organization with a national fan base of more than seven million gamers.
The WKRBC Team Liquid partnership takes aim at a key demographic – less than 20% of blood donations come from millennials (age 20-34 years), and young males donate at even lesser rates.
“Now charged to carry the blood needs of the Baby Boomer generation, the millennial donor is a key component to the future success of our blood center.” WKRBC Director of Donor Resources, Vicki Ellis.
Custom, limited edition “Team Liquid Turns Red” t-shirts will be offered to everyone who donates in the Owensboro Center June 14th -21st, 2019.
“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 western Kentucky, WKRBC ensures donated blood reaches patients at six area hospitals.
“Engaging blood donors in a platform they are already utilizing maximizes their participation,” Vicki Ellis Director of Donor Resources, WKRBC.
To find a donation center near you, visit www.wkrbc.org
About:
The mission of the Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center is to provide the much needed and most safe blood products and related services to our region. Our Primary concern is keeping abreast of all clinical developments in order to achieve the greatest degree of protection to both donor and patient.
In order for our center to successfully execute our mission, we constantly strive for community awareness, trust, and participation. Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center staff, as a group as well as individuals, respond to each donor and each patient need with utmost regard.
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.
