Gift of Life Soirees Into Summer with a Series of Events
Alec and Susan, the bone marrow donor and recipient who met at the Gift of Life’s recent walk at FAU
The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation is ready for summer, as it unveils four Palm Beach County events designed to increase awareness, donors and involvement.
Gift of Life, an international bone marrow registry based in Boca Raton, is dedicated to finding matches for people suffering from life-threatening blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma.
The registration process involves a simple ‘swabbing’ procedure that safely collects DNA by running a cotton swab inside the mouth. Utilizing cheek swabs at donor drives was pioneered by Gift of Life to simplify the registration process and has replaced the donation of a blood sample to join the registry for the past 14 years, said Jay Feinberg, Gift of Life Founder and CEO.
“We organize about 1,000 drives that take place across the country every year,” Feinberg said. Donors must be between the ages of 18 – 60 and in general good health to join the registry; donors in their 20s are most urgently needed since they’re requested by transplant centers more than 80 percent of the time. “If people cannot make it to a drive, they are welcome to visit our offices in Boca Raton or they can visit our website, order a kit and complete the process at home.”
Gift of Life has approximately 235,900 donors in its database, and has facilitated more than 2,700 transplants to date.
Each test, sponsored by Gift of Life, cost $60. Members of the community are encouraged to help cover the cost of testing, since it is not paid for by insurance or government funding. All contributions are tax-deductible.
A Father’s Day 5K and Family Run in Wellington will take place on June 15. Gift of Life will be registering participants into its national database of potential bone marrow matches.
And on June 26, Gift of Life will host a Night of Laughter, featuring comic Josh Sneed, at the Improv Comedy Club and Dinner Theatre at City Place. Tickets are $15, plus a two drink minimum, non-alcholic included. Each ticket purchased will come with a complimentary pass for two to attend a future show. The event is for those ages 18 and over. For more information, visit here or www.giftoflife.org/events.
Strikes for Life Bowling Tournament will take place on July 20th at Strikes at Boca and will include games such as Eliminator, Brackets and Scratch Pot, along with a silent auction. Cash prizes will be given out: $500 for first place, $250 for second place and $100 for third. The $60 entry fee includes shoes. Check in will begin at 10am for an 11 am event start. Register by Friday July 11 at www.giftoflife.org/tickets
Lastly on August 9th, a 007 themed event, “Let’s Bond”, will take place as part of Boca Festival Days at Blue Martini in Boca. Tickets are $50 and include 2 premium cocktails as well as heavy appetizers, or there is a VIP Gold ticket available for $75, which additionally includes early entry, a private martini tasting, buy-now auction item pricing and a special giveaway. Complimentary drinks for ladies offered from 9pm-11pm, and on stage La Linea Latin Band at 10pm.To attend, visit here or www.giftoflife.org/events .
Each of these events is an opportunity to relay the need for widespread involvement, recognize the significance of every successful match and share the advancements in bone marrow donation. For example, the actual process of donating, if a match is made, is much less invasive. Today, upwards of 80 percent of donors do not donate bone marrow; they donate blood stem cells taken from the arm.
“It is a process that is similar to platelet donation. The donor is connected to a cell separating machine which removes blood from one arm, cycles it to remove the stem cells and then returns the blood to the donor’s other arm,” Feinberg said. “The whole process takes a few hours, so the donor watches TV or reads a newspaper; and when they are done, they go home. I think that’s one of the things that people don’t know. There is no anesthesia, no surgery, minimal time spent recuperating.”
Learn more about the impactful work of Gift of Life, visit www.giftoflife.org.
