By Andrew Coen
That one donor who can save a life is what will be sought in the first bone marrow drive to be held in the Five Towns since 2002. It will take place at Temple Hillel, at 1000 Rosedale Road, on the North Woodmere-Valley Stream border, on Sunday, Aug. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rebecca Gedalius, who graduated from Lawrence High School in 2003 and was involved in a successful bone marrow drive at Brandeis College in suburban Boston, where she attends school, has spent much of her summer break organizing the Temple Hillel event, which is sponsored by Gift of Life.
The Gift of Life's mission is to facilitate bone marrow transplants for patients around the world suffering from life-threatening illnesses by increasing the representation of the Jewish population in the bone marrow donor pool. As a result of a small worldwide Jewish population, with many generations lost in the Holocaust, there are very few genetic matches for Jews suffering from diseases where a donor is needed, according to Gedalius.
This will be the first bone marrow drive held in the Five Towns since the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School in Cedarhurst hosted one in February 2002 to try and find a match for then-33-year-old Barry Mishkin, who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Gedalius, who graduated from Lawrence in 2003, is hoping to find matches from people ages 18 to 60 who are eligible to be blood donors, and to find volunteers for the drive. All that is required of donors is a simple swab of cells from inside the mouth; no blood is taken at this stage. Blood type does not matter, and pregnant women can still be tested, according to Gedalius.
"This is what I love to do," she said of her efforts to help make a difference.
Gedalius is a triple major in sociology, political science and English at Brandeis, and is hoping to go to law school to become an advocate for children.
Gedalius is getting help in organizing the bone marrow drive from her childhood friend Allison Balberg, a recent Hewlett High School graduate who also attends Brandeis. "I'm glad I got involved in the drive," said Balberg. "What's better than helping to save lives?"
Although the Gift of Life Campaign started as a grass-roots effort to save one life, the organization has facilitated transplants for hundreds of other patients also in need of donors, and in 1997, the Gift of Life Board of Directors decided to expand its services by initiating operations as a bone marrow registry.
The Aug. 28 drive's hours may turn out to be flexible. Gedalius said that when Brandeis conducted its registry, the doors were kept open well past the scheduled closing time as a result of a huge turnout. "We stay as long as there are people," she said.
For further information on the Temple Hillel bone marrow drive, call (516) 792-9860 or e-mail smartyrg@aol.com. Anyone interested in learning more about Gift of Life can call (800) 9-Marrow or log onto www.giftoflife.org.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
