A Meet and Greet was held at the office of Gift of Life on April 1, 2010.  Board members, community leaders, supporters, donors, recipients and staff members were all in attendance for the second annual event, hosted by Sam Rine, Portfolio Manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Boca Raton, Florida.  Sam remarked, “Last year, I attended the Meet and Greet hosted by Mr. Warren Eisenberg – I was so impressed with the entire staff and the enthusiasm in the office that I vowed to Jay Feinberg that I would host the next one so that the organization could be highlighted to the community. Mr. Eisenberg, under his leadership, passed the baton off to me and now I can pass it off again so that the Meet and Greet can continue every year.”

The purpose of this event was to inform the South Florida community where Gift of Life is headquartered about the organization and its mission to save lives.  As a nonprofit organization, Gift of Life relies on the financial commitment of people who not only understand what the organization does, but also sees the difference it makes in peoples’ lives, and can enlighten family, friends and co-workers and ask for their support as well.

Guests were treated to a lunch reception, followed by a leisurely tour of the office.  As they passed through each department’s area, they had the opportunity not only to see Gift of Life’s dedicated employees hard at work, but to ask questions about what they do and how their responsibilities fit into the structure of the organization.  Participants then gathered for opening remarks from Executive Director, Jay Feinberg, and a lecture about state of the art technologies being used in transplantation, presented by Hematologist and Oncologist, Dr. Philip Lowry.  Dr. Lowry also acts as Liaison to Gift of Life’s Medical Advisory Committee.

“Our guests this year were an exceptional combination of people from different walks of life, and each one had something that he or she contributed to the afternoon’s festivities,” commented Jay.  “A business person was speaking to a donor about his experience giving cells by apheresis, and a philanthropist was listening intently to a staff explaining the process by which cord blood is collected and stored. Everyone had something to learn from someone else. We hope to have many more events like this one.”