When donor Scott Spicer returned home after he donated his blood stem cells in October 2007, he knew that what he had just experienced was something unique, and with that inspiration fresh in his mind, he was determined to find some way to “get the word out,” to his friends and family about Gift of Life and its mission.  Having been involved as a volunteer for other organizations, he fully understood how important that word of mouth could be.

Scott, who is an avid Facebook user, had seen the “causes” application, and had even joined a few that were sent to him, but wasn’t really sure how it all worked.  “I saw other causes raising sometimes thousands of dollars in support for other organizations,” said Scott.  So he decided to take a chance, set up his own page, and then invited everyone he could think of to view the page and join the cause, all the while hoping that this would turn into monetary donations to help Gift of Life.

Since November of 2007, Scott has been amazed as he has seen the response to his initial idea grow, both in terms of correspondence with other donors who want to share experiences and recently, in financial donations.  It took a lot of dedication to get this idea off and running.  Initially, Scott spent a great amount of time sending individual messages to people he knew and who he networked with, asking them to take a look at his cause page as well as the Gift of Life Facebook page and to consider giving whatever they could.  Scott’s premise was simple, “If everyone donated just one dollar, think of the amount of money that could be raised for Gift of Life.” Currently, the Gift of Life Facebook Cause page has over 800 members --- and growing!

And then Scott received a message from Ari Elman, another Gift of Life donor who was going through the process and waiting, albeit slightly impatiently, for confirmation that he was indeed a match.  Ari contacted Scott because he had questions that he figured another donor could answer; additionally, he was already contacting his peers and family members, and encouraging them to give to Gift of Life.  Between the two men, they have now raised over one-thousand dollars, and are continuing to let others know about the important work that Gift of Life does everyday.  Motivated to repair the world one day and one person at a time, they both personify the mitzvah of Tikkun Olam.  We are proud that Scott and Ari, like all Gift of Life heroes, are part of the Gift of Life family. Thank you Scott and Ari!

Click here to join Gift of Life's Cause on Facebook today!