2004 Recipient: Jay Feinberg

Jay Feinberg, Executive Director of Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, was the inaugural recipient of The Charles Bronfman Prize, announced on April 28, 2004 and was described by Charles Bronfman as a Jewish hero.

One year after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from college and embarking on a Wall Street career, Jay’s life took a dramatic turn. He was diagnosed with leukemia and told he would need a bone marrow transplant to survive, but since tissue type is ethnically determined and he was Jewish, there was a less than a five percent chance he would find a matching donor.  With no donors available in his family, Jay's best chance of survival was to recruit as many donors who shared his ethnic background as possible.  An international search was launched, and over the course of four years, thousands of Jewish volunteers were tested. The drives identified matches for dozens of other patients, but none for Jay.  In 1995, it appeared that his time had run out.  A last, hopeful donor drive was scheduled and incredibly, Jay's 'miracle match' was found- a young woman named Becky Faibisoff. 

Following his four year battle, Jay transformed his own personal crisis into a life-saving movement that has been credited with facilitating bone marrow transplants for approximately 1,500 cancer patients around the world, including his own.  Committed to helping others in similar circumstances, Jay established the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation (www.giftoflife.org), the first and only Jewish bone marrow donor registry in North America.  Gift of Life’s mission to improve the ethnic diversity of the worldwide donor pool has led to the enrollment of over 110,000 Jewish bone marrow donors on the international registry, which has increased the chances of a Jewish patient finding a suitable match from less than five percent in 1991 to over 70 percent today. 

"Even as his own survival was in question, Jay sought out ways to save others. I could not be more honored than to have Jay as the inaugural recipient of this prize," said Charles Bronfman. "Through his endeavors, he truly is an inspiration and a hero to the emerging generation of Jews and indeed to all those seeking to make a difference." Asked to comment on the award, Feinberg said: "I am particularly honored to receive this Prize because of the man for whom it’s named. Through his dedication and leadership, Charles Bronfman has projected a vision that has made the Jewish world a better place. He has proven that one person can make a difference." He continued, "From time to time, we read human interest stories about members of our communities who perform great acts of heroism. But at Gift of Life, we are blessed to witness these acts every day when we work with our bone marrow donors. Through their determination to save the lives of complete strangers, they continue to be my daily inspiration."

Feinberg commented on Becky Faibisoff, his miracle match: "My donor's [Becky’s] gift of marrow saved more than one life. Her selfless act of kindness was the catalyst that transformed a grassroots recruitment campaign into an international resource of bone marrow donors for patients in need of life-saving transplants. Making Gift of Life my life's work is my way to thank her and the Jewish communal world for giving me a second chance."

Under Jay’s leadership, Gift of Life has become one of the world’s most effective donor registries, and has expanded its scope to include a public umbilical cord blood bank, the first to recruit from North America’s Jewish community. Because of its well documented success, Gift of Life has earned the respect of the international transplant community, with numerous groups benefiting from Jay’s registry model and specialized ethno-centric recruitment strategies. Strategic partnerships with organizations that include Hillel and Taglit-birthright israel have helped grow Gift of Life’s ranks with young, healthy marrow donors while teaching them Jewish values and leadership skills that will last them a lifetime.

Among his civic endeavors, Jay has served on bone marrow policy advisory and patient advocacy panels of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the New Jersey Department of Health, and drafted New Jersey’s first Bone Marrow Awareness Week proclamation for former Governor James Florio. Jay is the inaugural recipient of the National Marrow Donor Program’s Allison Atlas Award and recipient of Hadassah International’s World Citizenship Award. In 2005, Yeshiva University conferred an honorary doctorate upon Jay in recognition of his humanitarian achievements.

Jay says,"Receiving the Prize has really opened doors for Gift of Life. It has lent tremendous prestige to the organization and its mission, which has resulted in a big increase in our recruitment efforts. This translates into more lives saved, many of them as a result of students who have taken leadership roles organizing drives on their college campuses!"

Click to connect to The Gift of Life website.



Click here to view the inspirational 2 minute video about Jay Feinberg For more information, email info@TheCharlesBronfmanPrize.com