Help me raise funds for Jay Feinberg's Gift of Life Foundation

If you knew me well between 1994 to 2000 then you must also know the name Jay Feinberg. Back then, through an inspiring story, I met a young man who quickly became my hero. You can read Jay's story about how a diagnosis of leukemia became the Gift Of Life Bone Marrow Foundation at www.giftoflife.org.

My path crossed his in 1994 when I wrote an article about his fledgling organization (then called 'Friends of Jay Feinberg') for a national Canadian Jewish newspaper. I came to know Jay and his parents through my story and soon became a volunteer at blood-drives. Shortly after I became a dedicated volunteer fundraiser for the organization, speaking at various venues.

In 1995, together with a close friend (Audey Stanleigh) who was himself a leukemia patient, I organized the first fundraising event for the organization - a basketball tournament dubbed 'Play for Jay'. The event raised a modest $15,000. But that money financed a final blood drive in hope of finding Jay's 'miracle match' - a bone marrow donor that could save his life. The doctors had told Jay that there was no time left to wait and other measures would need to be taken if a match were not found. In an unbelievably miraculous thread of events, the final person tested at this drive turned out to be Jay's miracle match.

After this, we continued the tournament, renaming it 'Hoops for Hope'. Unfortunately, Hoops for Hope was soon being run in memory of my dear friend Audey Stanleigh. During that time I learned more and more about the Gift of Life Foundation and the incredible dedication and tireless work ethic that Jay Feinberg displayed to help each and every person that he could.

I watched as Gift of Life grew from a small family-run operation to a respectable international bone marrow registry and as Jay became a renowned expert sitting on international boards and consulting with doctors in the US and abroad.

But, most importantly, this organization is different from anything else I have seen because it lives by the Talmudic value that To save a single life is to save an entire world.

While I have not had the time to continue volunteering and fundraising for Gift of Life as I used to, when I saw this website and this great, easy way to raise funds, I decided that I could at least do this.

Would you join me in helping Gift of Life save lives?