Gift of Life Hudson Valley volunteers (Above, l-r) Stacey Lazarus, Lorraine Wernow, and Sherrill Murray-Lazarus were presented with certificates of appreciation by Gail Oliver.
Gift of Life Marrow Registry has a highly active group of volunteers based in Newburgh, N.Y., who have been running drives in the Hudson Valley region for many years.
At a brunch held in July to honor these volunteers, a video greeting from Jay Feinberg was shown, recounting his history, the future of Gift of Life Marrow Registry in the age of incredible medical advances, and his recognition of the ongoing efforts of the Hudson Valley team.
The organization’s connection with the area began in 1991 when Jay Feinberg was first diagnosed with leukemia. He would soon learn that he did not have a match in the registry, so his family started a grassroots campaign to find a donor. Gail Oliver, who had recently relocated to Newburgh, learned of Jay’s situation from a news article in Jewish Week. She volunteered to set up recruitment drives in both Newburgh and Westchester, and over the years has grown an incredible team of volunteers who run many highly successful drives each year.
(L-r) Sherrill Murray-Lazarus, Mona Rieger, Joan Gittelsohn, Babi Satzman
“Our Hudson Valley Gift of Life team is wonderful,” said Gail. “They are truly dedicated to recruiting donors, finding matches, and ultimately saving lives. Supporting the mission of Gift of Life through their volunteer efforts and financial support is what they are all about.”
Recognized at the event were Sherrill Murray-Lazarus, Stacey Lazarus, and Lorraine Wernow, who received certificates of appreciation from Gift of Life. Gail produced a video that featured many of the team’s drives from the past.
“Volunteering for Gift of Life gives me the chance to give others the opportunity to help save lives and find a cure for leukemia and other blood-borne diseases,” said Sherrill, who serves as the Hudson Valley Team’s co-leader. “Our Hudson Valley GoL team has become a great circle of friends who are all passionately dedicated to ‘swabbing the world’ one small drive at a time. We all joyfully celebrate every successful match and keep our positive energy in high gear as we continue to work together and do everything we can for Gift of Life. I am honored and delighted to have the chance to be a volunteer for Gift of Life.”
(L-r) Don Janowitz, Scott Manley, Raena Korenman
Additional speakers included Scott Manley, the Deputy Supervisor of the Town of Newburgh, which now includes Gift of Life in many of the town’s festivities, and Mary Guernier, whose daughter had a successful transplant to treat Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Mary is helping to organize a Westchester recruitment team.
Laura Copel, who co-chaired a drive for Jay in Westchester 30 years ago, also spoke on how volunteering has enriched her life.
Gift of Life extends our deepest thanks to the Hudson Valley volunteer team. Your work has added thousands of donors to the registry and given many patients battling blood cancer a second chance at life through transplants from those donors.