ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan’s Greek community has set its annual Red Cross blood drive for March 18-19 and 22-23. Sponsored by Greek Week Inc., the largest student-run philanthropic activity at U-M, the four-day event will be held from noon to 6 p.m. each day.

Open to all students, faculty and staff as well as the general public, the blood drive takes place in the Michigan League on U-M’s Central Campus.

The U-M Health System’s Blood Bank and Transfusion Service is the largest consumer of the Detroit Red Cross’ blood supply, according to Dr. Robertson D. Davenport, medical director of the U-M blood bank and associate professor of pathology at the Medical School. The System uses more than 20 percent of the Red Cross’ supply and more than 100,000 units of blood per year. A single blood donation can benefit as many as four different patients, says Davenport. Blood can be used for heart, liver and bone marrow transplants as well as for premature babies.

Davenport stresses the importance of getting new donors to give blood. Less than 10 percent of adults who could donate blood ever do, he points out, and more than half of the blood used in the country is provided by only 2 percent of eligible donors.

Greek Week is an annual 10-day fund-raising event for fraternity and sorority members of the U-M community and runs from