l got involved in Gift of Life when my sister Michelle received a bone marrow transplant during her battle with Leukemia in 2008. Thankfully, she is now healthy. After seeing firsthand the importance of a Jewish bone marrow registry, I decided I wanted to help Gift of Life. Back in January 2010, I helped start a Young Professionals Committee (YPC) to encourage young people to join the registry.

Now in its second year, the GoL YPC is launching another "swab-a-thon" campaign - this year with a very generous anonymous donor that has agreed to match the money raised dollar for dollar up to our goal of $20,000. Every $54 we raise will go directly towards processing and registering potential donors. My personal goal for this initiative is to raise $5,400.

I want to thank everyone again for your generous support last year. Because of you we raised over $20,000, added more than 350 new potential donors to the registry, AND made our first match - a 52 year old woman who we are all praying for.

We all probably know someone who has been affected in some way by a terrible life threatening illness and I truly believe this is an extremely important and effective way of saving lives. There are two ways that you can help: (1) make a donation towards funding the processing costs of new potential donors or (2) become a member of the registry by clicking "register as a donor" at the top of the page.

Thank you for your support!
Rachel