Gift of Life Foundation

Eleven years ago my friends and family launched a campaign to find the one person who could donate bone marrow and save my life. At the time, I never imagined that the cause would later become my life’s mission. When I was diagnosed with leukemia, I was given less than a five percent chance of ever finding a donor. Today, thanks to our efforts to increase the participation of Jewish volunteers on donor registries around the world, the task of finding matches for Jewish patients needing transplants is vastly improved. With the launch of Gift of Life Australia, that success rate will continue to climb.
Since its inception, Gift of Life has been an organization with an international scope, providing health and hope to patients around the world. Our successful recruitment model will now be applied within Australia’s vibrant Jewish community, and nothing makes me prouder than seeing our good work continue to spread throughout the Diaspora.

The establishment of Gift of Life Australia could not have happened without the hard work and dedication of Shula Endrey-Walder and Rabbi Dovid Slavin. Their efforts will truly make a world of difference, not only in spreading awareness and participation within Australia’s Jewish community, but to the patients and their families who will be helped as a result. Shula has been a trailblazer in donor recruitment at Wolper Jewish Hospital since my own search for a donor, and her efforts and dedication have already saved lives over the years. I want to thank Shula and Rabbi Slavin for their commitment to providing health and hope to patients around the world, and congratulate them on being such active supporters of our mission to save lives.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the life-saving donors and the dedicated team at the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry for their commitment to tikkun olam (repairing the world).

Tizku l’mitzvot!

Jay Feinberg
Founder & Executive Director
Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation