Who would pass up on the chance to save a life? What about multiple lives, all in one small piece of your day?

What if you found out you didn't need any kind of special training or have to put yourself in the face of danger?

Saving three lives is what someone can do by donating one pint of his or her blood to the American Red Cross. The process is relatively quick and painless and the reward is well worth what is put into donating.

Penn State has done a great service in providing students with blood drives, and the annual PSU-MSU Challenge is in full force right now. The competition pits the two Big Ten schools against each other to collect the most units of blood. As of now, Penn State is lagging behind -- 838 to 663 units as of yesterday morning -- but students and community members have plenty of chances to donate. This simple contest to reflect school spirit is helping get more donors out.

While giving blood is not usually a problem, there are some restrictions that could possibly turn away potential donors. Traveling to certain countries can disqualify someone, as can lacking enough iron in one's blood. During this year's challenge, many donors have been turned away for iron deficiency. The Red Cross advises those who need to boost their iron levels to eat things like chicken, fish and green, leafy vegetables.

Even if, for whatever reason, you cannot donate blood, there are always opportunities to help out. Penn State has a student Red Cross club and many other organizations will help to put on a blood drive. Think of how many lives you could assist in saving if you served as a walker or worked the canteen at a drive for just one hour.

The fact is that someone, somewhere, will always need a blood transfusion.

The Red Cross puts on these drives for a great humanitarian effort to provide this blood.

Everyone can -- and should -- do something to help, whether that is donating or volunteering an hour or two of your time.

For the next week, Penn State students should follow along with the slogan of this year's challenge and "Roar for More" -- blood.