Donors say the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience of giving blood.

"I guess the only reason not to donate would be out of fear, which is really stupid when it's put in perspective, when you compare that to a person's life," said donor John Y. Hsu '03.

The idea for the AAB event came after member Solomon Liou '02 saw a call for minority-targeted bone marrow drives on the Internet. The request came from the Asian American Donor Program (AADP), a division of the National Marrow Donor Program, a California-based organization created to increase the pool of bone marrow donors.

After discussing the idea, AAB member Stephen W. Chang '02 turned to Mutsuko Holiman, who was establishing a New England chapter of the AADP.

Holiman, who helped the group coordinate yesterday's drive, praised the AAB's enthusiasm.

"I came out to meet [the AAB] and found they're very motivated, they want this to be one the their big events," Holiman said. "They're starting something very exciting; the bone marrow drives are going to continue."

This was the first major community service event of the AAB, which just received University recognition last month.

The idea of the group, partly modeled after the Black Men's Forum, is to promote unity among Asian American men. "We all have a unique identity as Asian American men, and we want to...help the community [as well]," said Lonnie Everson '02, the AAB public relations director.