For six families and over 800 witnesses, May 15, 2008 will be a date that they will not soon forget. Three bone marrow transplant survivors and their families were introduced to the heroes who saved their lives at the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation’s Eighth Annual Partners for Life Gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Tears of joy flowed as transplant recipients expressed their gratitude to the selfless people, their life-saving matches. An impressive crowd of nearly 800 guests, including bone marrow donors, recipients, volunteers, medical professionals, and financial supporters looked on as the encounters took place on stage.

 

Tony Award-winning actor, Joel Grey, who served as the Gala’s Master of Ceremonies, applauded both donors and survivors, and praised Gift of Life for its accomplishments in saving so many lives. He thanked the donors and recipients for sharing such a personal moment in their lives with all in attendance.

 

Jerome Fisher, philanthropist, spoke quite movingly about his personal connection to Gift of Life and then introduced the first of the three donor recipient pairs. Jill Goldsmith, a mother of three from Boca Raton, Florida, who joined the Gift of Life registry in 2002, was introduced to her two-and-a-half year old recipient, Matthew Welling, a joyful and energetic boy who was completely engaged by his new life-sized Elmo (his favorite Sesame Street character) stuffed animal that was presented to him by Jill. Matthew’s parents, Michael and Susie Welling, choked up with emotion as they embraced and thanked their son’s bone marrow donor. Addressing Jill, his son’s donor, Mr. Welling said that, “your act of giving has shown us that life is a gift to be treasured.”

 

Next, Warren Eisenberg, member of the Gift of Life Board of Trustees introduced the second donor recipient pair. Chammie Freedman, a Ph.D. student in Psychology from Chicago who registered at a Gift of Life drive at the University of Maryland, met her recipient, Zalmen Fishman, head of an Israeli Yeshiva and father of 12. In a pre-taped video from Israel, Zalmen expressed his deepest gratitude to Chammie for saving his life and concluded his message by asking the crowd to help him give his donor a standing ovation for her selfless deed. The large crowd enthusiastically complied with his request, standing and applauding in her honor.

 

The third and final pair of the evening was introduced by Evie Goldfine, transplant recipient, prominent businesswoman, and volunteer Gift of Life courier. Evie had the pleasure and honor of personally delivering the stem cells to Israel for this very transplant! Dr. Judah Schorr, an anesthesiologist, husband and father of two, who serves on the Board of Directors of IDT Corporation, met his recipient Sarah Cohen (and her daughter) who flew in from Israel to meet her anonymous hero. Judah joined the Gift of Life registry in 2002 at a bone marrow drive for Dr. Ruthie Spector and Barry Mishkin, z”l. Sarah Cohen thanked Judah for giving her the opportunity to be with her children and see her grandchildren grow up.

 

In addition to the emotional meetings between the three recipients and their donors, the evening also honored Yeshiva University with the 2008 Partners for Life Award. Yeshiva University’s students have facilitated more transplants than any other institution participating in Gift of Life’s campus recruitment program. To date, more than 2,500 students have registered through Yeshiva University and more than 20 have already saved lives! This year alone, Yeshiva University’s Medical Ethics Society, with the Society’s Campus and Community Liaison, Avi Amsalem, a senior at Yeshiva University and a Gift of Life bone marrow donor, recruited 500 potentially life-saving donors to add to Gift of Life’s registry.

 

The 2008 Partners for Life award was accepted by Yeshiva University’s President Richard Joel on behalf of the students, who noted: “I am extremely thankful to Jay Feinberg for letting Yeshiva University share in this special gift, and proud of my students for demonstrating their dedication to helping their community.” (To see the Yeshiva University 2008 Partners for Life video click here.)

 

Jay Feinberg, Founder and Executive Director of Gift of Life, expressed his gratitude to all the registrants, donors and financial supporters. “It is your help and support that ensures the success of our organization,” said Feinberg. He expressed his gratitude to donors who are saving lives like his, and also thanked Maimonides Medical Center and Boro Park Ob/Gyn for their innovative cord blood program, which has, in four short years, registered 1,000 cord blood units.