Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation

July 2010 

Organization:
 Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation

Mission:
 Gift of Life is an international registry that matches volunteer bone marrow donors with children and adults suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, other cancers and genetic diseases, whose only hope of a cure is a transplant.  Since matching is genetically determined, patients tend to match donors who share a similar ethnic background.  Gift of Life is dedicated to increasing the number of Jewish donors in the registry.

Organization Description:
 Gift of Life organizes recruitment drives to enroll new donors between the ages of 18 - 60 into the registry.  Testing involved a quick and simple cheek swab!  Although not yet old enough to register, Bar/Bat Mitzvah students have a significant impact on saving lives by taking on Gift of Life as a social action project.  Working under the guidance of a Gift of Life mentor (usually a marrow donor or transplant recipient), students can organize "Swab-a-thons" within their communities and at their schools.

Fun Fact: The simple swab of the inside of a donor's cheek is all it takes to join Gift of Life and be someone's match!


How Can I Help? 
Organize and promote a donor recruitment "Swab-a-thon" at your school or synagogue, or at a community event such as a Mitzvah Day!  Start a team page to raise funds for the $54 cost of each cheek swab kit!

Contact Person: Sherrie Kesselman
Address: 800 Yamato Road, Suite 101 Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: (561) 982-2900
Email: skesselman@giftoflife.org
Website: www.giftoflife.org