Anyone interested in saving a life this week may want to stop by the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, where community volunteers will be donating blood at this year’s ISU Fall Blood Drive.

“Every pint of blood that is donated saves three other people,” said Katie Mills, senior in kinesiology and co-director of the blood drive.

Pete Arentson, junior in marketing and co-director of the ISU Fall Blood Drive, expects incredible attendance rates.

“We’re one of the largest student-run drives in the country,” he said. “We’re hoping for at least 18 [hundred] to 1,900 people to show up, and we have an 80 to 90 percent retention rate for those that do show up.”

Although the drive is geared toward students, all people is welcome to show up and donate.

“We’ve been advertising this throughout the community – church bulletins, fliers and the like,” said Jenny Lichty, senior in agricultural education and public relations spokeswoman for the blood drive.

Lichty said the goals for this blood drive are pretty high.

“Our goal is to get 2,100 units of blood, and 2,500 would be nice,” she said.

“A unit is a pint of blood, and the average person has 13 pints in their body, so they can spare a unit.”

However, it’s not always that easy for a person to donate, Mills said.

“Not everyone that shows up will donate,” she said. “Some students are anemic, some just have a plain fear of needles, and that’s OK. We hope that if students can’t donate, they will volunteer to help out.”

The issue concerning the blood drive last spring, where no points for Greek Week were awarded to greek members who donated blood, has been resolved.

“We’ve got the points back in, and we’re doing as much as possible to get a positive image out,” Lichty said. “We’re glad we resolved that issue, because in my opinion, points shouldn’t interfere with a person saving lives.”

Arentson wants people to show up and help others by donating.

“If students come in when it’s not that busy, they can be in and out in 25 minutes,” he said.

The ISU Fall Blood Drive will last the entire week, lasting from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. On Friday, the hours will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.