Gift of Life achieved a momentous goal on January 10, 2025. The registry now has 500,000 active volunteers who have registered to donate blood stem cells or marrow. Those who someday match with a patient will have the chance to help save their lives. A transplant has the potential to help cure more than 75 types of blood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Thirty years ago, Jay Feinberg received a life-saving bone marrow transplant from a volunteer donor named Becky Faibisoff Keller after a four-year international donor search.
Many of his fellow patients found donors from among those who tested to help Jay, and once he regained his health, he expanded Gift of Life’s recruiting efforts so the thousands of patients in need of transplants every year would be able to find their matches.
Today, Gift of Life is a leader among the worldwide registries and Jay currently serves as the president of the World Marrow Donor Association for 2025-6.
There are currently more than 75 conditions that can benefit from a blood stem cell or marrow transplant, including blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, inherited immune disorders, and blood diseases like aplastic anemia and sickle cell disease. This list is expected to grow as research breakthroughs in cell and gene therapy may make it possible to treat Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, solid tumors, and much more.
The registry constantly needs new donors because the ideal age for donation is between 18 and 35. Decades of data from stem cell and marrow transplants show that younger donors produce better results for patients. As donors age, transplant centers are less likely to request them, making the continuous recruitment of young donors essential.
Gift of Life has a robust Campus Ambassador Program (CAP) that provides college students with the opportunity to recruit their peers on campuses across the United States. Not only do the CAPs get a fabulous internship opportunity – learning leadership and teambuilding skills – but they also get an update email every time someone they swabbed matches a patient or donates to save a life. How many of us can count the number of lives we have helped save? For the CAPs, that is a tremendous reward in itself.
Matches between a donor and patient are based on human leukocyte antigens (HLA). These are immune system factors we inherited from our parents and ancestors, essential to the success of the transplant. Because HLA variations are population specific, the best chance of finding a donor is with someone who shares a similar genetic heritage. Gift of Life strives to recruit donors from a wide range of populations, with the goal of finding a match for every patient as soon as they are needed.
To join the registry, you complete a cheek swab kit and a short health questionnaire. Click here to order a registration kit sent to your home.