Prodding from her children was the catalyst to Lauren Durban overcoming her fear and giving back to Lincoln through blood donation.
After Durban’s first donation, her initial fear melted away and she became a regular donor. Durban, communications manager at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Lied Center for Performing Arts, has now recorded 30 total donations and earned her three-gallon pin last year, continuing the practice as an act of service. She intends to participate to help Nebraska repeat as winners in this year’s We Give Blood Challenge, a campaign by Abbott and the Big Ten Conference, which kicked off Aug. 27.
“It feels like something simple I can do that is good for my community,” Durban said.
The journey started around 2018 when Durban’s children were in elementary school. An initiative at their school encouraged students to ask their parents to donate, and the student would receive a prize in exchange. Durban had long held a fear of needles and had never donated up to that point. Her children would come home and tell her about classmates’ parents donating, creating some peer pressure, and she realized she also wanted to set a good example for them.
“The night before I was so nervous I don’t think I slept because I was terrified,” she said.
She went with a close friend the first time and discovered that the process was nothing like the scary situation she had built up in her head. For her, a quick pinprick quickly became worth the contribution that came from it.
“I was so blown away by how I had made it this big scary thing that it absolutely was not,” Durban said.
The revelation that she found the experience so easy propelled her to becoming a regular donor. Durban said she tries to donate every eight weeks. She’s kept up with it because she’s in a position where she can help her community in that way.
“There are so many reasons somebody might need it, and knowing you’re part of making sure the supply is always there is a really good thing,” Durban said. “Also, you never know when it’s going to be you or somebody you love that will be the recipient or will need there to be a good community supply of blood.”
Prior to starting in her position at the Lied Center, Durban’s background was in broadcast journalism. She’s originally from California and moved to Nebraska to work at KLKN as a reporter and then anchor. She worked in morning radio for several years after that. However, the transition to the Lied Center felt like her entire career had built to it, Durban said.
“The performing arts has always been my first love in life,” she said. “I grew up performing and seeing shows.”
Durban’s first day on the job was March 17, 2020, which was the day the university closed because of COVID-19. The experience gave her a crash course education in working in live events during a time when those events were shutting down.
“It was a really special and interesting thing to be part of trying to preserve that and figure out what that could still look like and how we were going to come out the other side,” Durban said.
The job gave Durban the opportunity to meet and see performers she had long admired like Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald and Bernadette Peters, as well as discover artists she might not have otherwise sought out. She’s also enjoyed taking her children to see shows like “The Band’s Visit” or “Come From Away.”
“It’s easy for me to make the case people should come see shows because I love them so much,” Durban said.
The Lied presents a unique opportunity for university students to see world class performances for free or discounted prices, and Durban said she hopes those who take advantage walk away with a love of the arts.
“It should be just part of the university experience that maybe you’ll see Yo-Yo Ma or you’ll go see Wynton Marsalis or you’ll go see American Ballet Theater, and it’s right here on campus,” she said.
Durban also values helping the Lied take performing arts to the community through educational and outreach events. Artists host master classes with students or read for story times in Lincoln. Performers from a recent Lied Center presentation, “Frozen,” met with local youth who were preparing to put on “Frozen Jr.” She said these opportunities demonstrate to Lincoln youth at an early age that the arts are for everyone.
“One of the goals is to give Lincoln students several exposures to the arts so that, by the time they graduate, it's something that’s just accessible to you,” Durban said. “It’s about removing the barrier to cost, removing the barrier to proximity so people feel welcome.”
The 2025 We Give Blood drive continues until the winner is announced Dec. 6 at the Big Ten Football Championship Game. As of Sept. 4, Nebraska is in second place with 911 donors. Wisconsin leads the competition with 1,306 and Ohio State is third at 569. Overall, an estimated 18,969 lives have been saved by donations to the drive.
