UNH AND THE AMERICAN RED CROSS ANNOUNCE “BLEED BLUE” BLOOD DRIVES BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 3rd

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire’s Wildcat Sports Properties and
the American Red Cross announce first-ever “Bleed Blue” blood drives, a series of New Hampshire-wide blood drives during Sept. and Oct. leading up to the Wildcats’ homecoming football game on Saturday, October 10, 2009.

As part of the series, at each blood drive selected as a “Bleed Blue” drive, donors will receive discounted Wildcat football tickets and be able to vote for their favorite UNH team—the team for which that donor “bleeds blue.”

The following is a list of participating blood drives:
09/03/09 Nashua - Elks Lodge 2:30 pm – 7:30 pm 09/09/09 Nashua - St. Christopher Church 3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
09/09/09 Plymouth - Nashua Guard Armory 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
09/10/09 Milford - VFW Hall 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
09/10/09 Salem - Knights of Columbus Hall 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm
09/11/09 Newington - Pease Tradeport/WOKQ Day of Remembrance
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
09/18/09 Hillsboro - American Legion Hall 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
09/22/09 Hudson - Hudson Police 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm
09/25/09 Dover - Dover Moose Hall 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
09/30/09 Concord - St John’s Activity Center 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

“The American Red Cross is very excited for the opportunity to team up with The University of New Hampshire Wildcat Athletic programs.” said Tom Houle, Account Executive. The Bleed Blue campaign will kick off a partnership dedicated to providing hospital patients with lifesaving blood. The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood™.”

Additionally, the “Bleed Blue” campaign will make a sweep of UNH’s Durham campus with a four-day drive in the Memorial Union Building from September 14th – 17th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. All on-campus donors will receive an exclusive “I Bleed Blue” t-shirt, discounted football tickets and other rewards.

The final drive of the “Bleed Blue” campaign will be at UNH’s homecoming football game on Saturday, October 10th in the Lundholm Gymnasium lobby. The drive will run from 9:30 am until 2:30 pm. For more information please call 1-800-262-2660 or go to newenglandblood.org/nh

“UNH Athletics is excited to be an integral part of this initiative,” said Dot Sheehan, Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Relations. “We look for every opportunity to be active in the community and any time we can help the greater Wildcat family, we are honored,”

Wildcat Sports Properties is a property of Learfield Sports, which is the exclusive multimedia rights holder of the University of New Hampshire. The company manages rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations, provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the country and is title partner for the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. For additional corporate information and complete collegiate portfolio, visit www.learfieldsports.com.