When Kent State University hosts its football rivals from The University of Akron this Saturday, October 20th, the schools will have already been competing for a week in a friendly battle to help people in need of bone marrow transplants.

Dr. Peter Gold, a Gift of Life Marrow Registry stem cell donor, met Wendy Fulham, the woman whose life he saved, during Gift of Life's Steps for Life 5k Run and Walk in New York City.

Ten-year-old Seth Akins was on the brink of death when his life was saved by a random stranger. "It was truly a miracle," said Seth’s mother, Renee Floriano, still crying tears of joy last week even though the medical procedure that saved her son’s life happened more than a year ago. Her son had severe aplastic anemia, a rare and potentially deadly condition that occurs when your body stops producing enough new blood cells to survive.

When Jay Feinberg learned in 1991 that he had leukemia, he was told that he needed a bone-marrow transplant to survive. "My doctor said, ‘You will never find a match. Make your bucket list now.’" Feinberg, 22 at the time, was in shock and disbelief. "When I asked why, he said "because you are Jewish, and the best chances of a match are people with the same genetic background."

Kim Kardashian will be recognized for helping to connect an organ donor and recipient through the Gift of Life bone marrow registry. Kardashian will be honored Oct. 29 with the first Gift of Life Impact Award at the Gift of Life Marrow Registry’s inaugural One Huge Night Gala in Los Angeles.

In September 2016, Kardashian joined the drive to find a bone marrow donor for Adam Krief, a 31-year-old Jewish father of three from Israel, calling for help on her highly trafficked social media channels. Kardashian's Facebook page has more than 29 million likes and she has more than 48 million Twitter followers.