Cancer Survivor Makes Good on Promise to Pay it Forward by Giving the Gift of Life
BOCA RATON, Fla., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jay Feinberg is a very unassuming man, but talk to him about the importance of bone marrow transplantation to save lives, and he becomes a Goliath. Being a 15-year transplant survivor himself, it has become Jay's life work to increase the presence of underrepresented groups in the registry. He remembers every detail of his own four year search to find a donor, as well as the fact that his miracle match was the very last of 60,000 people that were tested in that time.
Today, Jay is a top nominee for the Jewish Community Hero Award, which is sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America. He finds his nomination quite humbling. "Personally, I am honored just to have been acknowledged, but I see my own nomination as a means to an end; for the Gift of Life mission to continue to move forward, so that every patient in need might find his or her miracle match like I was able to find mine."
The winners of the Jewish Community Hero Award will be announced at a gathering of North America's Jewish Federation members, in New Orleans this November. The top winner will receive a $25,000 grant to continue their work that changes the world. "For Gift of Life to be recognized is amazing, and will bring to the forefront just how important it is to increase the number of potential donors in the registry."
Among the top international registries, Gift of Life has facilitated over 2,150 bone marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood transplants for children and adults suffering from life-threatening illnesses. Since tissue-type is inherited, like hair and eye color, a patient's best chance of finding a genetic match lies with donors of similar ethnicity. For Jay, in particular, that meant finding a donor of Eastern European Jewish ancestry. With targeted donor recruitment efforts across North America and also in Israel, Gift of Life has greatly improved the chances that patients will find genetically matched donors through its registry of over 175,000 potential donors.
To have your voice heard in support of Gift of Life's mission and add your vote for Jay, simply go to http://bit.ly/voteforjay and click on the orange VOTE button.
For more information about how you can become involved with Gift of Life, or to make a tax-deductible contribution, visit our website at www.giftoflife.org or call 1-800-9MARROW.
SOURCE Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation
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