“Approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the U.S. Nearly 21 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S. Although an estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood at any given time, less than 10 percent of that eligible population actually do each year. The blood type most often requested by hospitals is type O (the universal donor).”

American Red Cross (www.redcross.org)