Gift of Life's Founder and CEO Jay Feinberg presents Birthright Israel's Chairman of the Board Philip de Toledo with an award recognizing 20 years of successful partnership in saving lives.
Gift of Life celebrated its 20-year partnership with Birthright Israel during the annual One Huge Night Gala in Los Angeles on September 16, 2024. Through their shared donor recruitment program, the two organizations have saved more than 500 lives via stem cell transplants and added more than 104,000 volunteer donors to the registry.
Kicking off the evening was Sara Aronson, a member of the Birthright Israel Foundation’s board of directors, as well as co-chair for the gala.
“Tonight, we are celebrating 500 lifesaving transplants completed thanks to this partnership,” said Ms. Aronson. “That’s 500 patients given a second chance, and 500 families blessed to be with their loved ones – truly a miracle!”
To help kick off the gala, she welcomed social media influencer and singer Montana Tucker (pictured below) to the stage. Montana, whose grandparents suffered the horrors of the Holocaust, spoke about how matches between patients depend on genetic similarities and the effect of losing so many people on the ability to save lives.
“Most of us lost generations of family members that we never had the chance to know, and their descendants who were never born,” said Montana. “We lost generations of genetically matched donors for those in need of transplants, so building the registry and recruiting young, healthy donors who have the potential to save lives for many decades to come is vital.”
In 1991, when Gift of Life founder and CEO Jay Feinberg was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a transplant, there was a less than 15% chance of him finding a matching donor. That search ultimately took four years, more than 60,000 volunteers were tested as his match, dozens of other patients found their donors, and ultimately, Jay’s perfect donor Becky was found, just as time was running out. He shared that the registry has been instrumental in changing the odds for Jewish blood cancer patients.
“Gift of Life has worked tirelessly for decades to address this healthcare inequity with great success,” said Jay. “Our goal is to ensure that every patient in need has an equal opportunity to find their match.”
Jay welcomed Birthright Israel’s Chairman of the Board Philip de Toledo to the stage to present him with an award recognizing the impact this long-lasting partnership has had on thousands of people.
“Birthright Israel is so proud to partner with the organization Jay founded,” said Philip. “We are not only connecting young people with their heritage and Jewish identity, but we are also empowering them to save lives. Over 100,000 Birthright participants have joined the Gift of Life registry, and this has led to over 4,500 matches and over 500 transplants. The collaboration between Birthright Israel and Gift of Life exemplifies the spirit of unity, generosity, and arvut hadadit – mutual responsibility – that defines our community.”
Jay then invited Dr. Miriam Adelson (pictured below) to the stage, who spoke poignantly about the inspiration for her medical career in the Talmud’s teaching about the sanctity of life, “Whoever saves a single life is considered to have saved the world.”
Dr. Adelson and her late husband Sheldon z”l were major sponsors for the construction of Gift of Life’s state-of-the-art stem cell collection center at its headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. Every day, donors give stem cells there to help save the lives of patients around the world. Since opening in late 2019, the center has completed more than 2,000 stem cell donations.
“I have had the privilege of saving many, many lives, from Israeli soldiers when I served as a military research officer to trauma patients in the emergency room and addiction sufferers in the clinics I founded with my husband Sheldon,” said Dr. Adelson. “There is an additional thrill in witnessing how that person goes on to live life to the fullest with their health restored. The registry of potential stem cell and marrow donors is expanding all the time – it is so simple and without limit.”
“Tens of thousands of Birthright participants have answered the call to sign up,” she added. “Scores of them have already made life-saving donations of stem cells. Think of it: some spirited young Jews making their first trip to Israel take a few seconds to swab their cheeks and end up performing the biggest mitzvah of all!”
The evening’s program also included the introduction of two Gift of Life donors to their courageous recipients, and the awarding of the Steven Bochco Award, given annually to a supporter or volunteer who has used their creativity to advance Gift of Life’s mission significantly. Click here to read the full story.
Jay then announced that Gift of Life is currently raising capital funds to double the size of the Adelson Collection Center, expanding the organization’s capacity to provide life-saving stem cells to more patients, and increase participation in research projects to develop new immuno-, cellular, and gene therapies. New discoveries in these fields will expand the number of diseases that can be treated and may help solve the riddle to curing conditions like Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration, solid tumors, multiple sclerosis, and many others.
If you were not able to attend the gala but would like to discuss a contribution to the capital campaign, please contact Gift of Life Director of Development Robyn Malek, rmalek@giftoflife.org or 561-982-2956.