Rabbi Chollak offering his unique brand of support to tiny victims of cancer
A conversation with Rabbi Chananya Chollak, International Chairman of Ezer Mizion
For the Yamim Nora’im, Ezer Mizion has set out on a major fundraising drive to raise the money needed to finance scanning tens of thousands of stem cell samples, so as to expand its International Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Rabbi Chananya Chollak, the organization’s International Chairman, took the time to speak with us personally about the need for public support to fund lifesaving activities, to tell us about Ezer Mizion’s goals, and to convey a message to the public. Continue reading We Need You Now!
23 lifesaving transplants 2,569 total transplants 865,626 members in registry 14 from personalized donor pools (see below) Continue reading Because of You!
June 2017 – BMDR ACTIVITY SUMMARY 22 lifesaving transplants 17 from personalized donor pools- see below 2,513 total transplants 858,125 members in registry Continue reading Because of You!
MAY 2017 – BMDR ACTIVITY SUMMARY 28 lifesaving transplants 15 from personalized donor pools (see below) 2,491 total transplants 856,665 members in registry Continue reading Because of You!
April 2017 – BMDR ACTIVITY SUMMARY 31 lifesaving transplants 21 from personalized donor pools 2,463 total transplants 856,257 members in registry
Below are the donor pools that saved lives this month, and their total transplants.
Alan Cohen Donor Pool – 76 lives saved David & Sara Farajun Donor Pool – 79 lives saved – 5 this month! Tommy & Yehudit Farkas Donor Pool – 1 life saved Hole In One Donor Pool – 20 lives saved – 2 this month! Leora Kuhillow Donor Pool – 9 lives saved Manny & Mojdeh Malekan Donor Pool – 1 life saved Irving & Cherna Moskowitz Donor Pool – 21 lives saved Ronald O. Perelman Donor Pool – 28 lives saved Rolf & Ruth Redlauer Donor Pool – 6 lives saved Dudu & Chagit Saada Donor Pool – 1 life saved Alan & Nicole Samson Donor Pool – 7 lives saved Ephriam & Devora Schreiber Donor Pool – 1 life saved Farzad & Sheila Shahery Donor Pool – 2 lives saved Shva Company Donor Pool – 5 lives saved Wiener, Widawsky, Rebenwurzel Donor Pool in memory of Shmuel and Yaffa Herman – 1 life saved Marjorie & Arnold Ziff Donor Pool (Anne Manning’s Donor Pool) – 1 life saved
Does Ezer Mizion provide transplants to Israel residents only?
Ezer Mizion receives Search Requests from oncology clinics around the globe. DNAmatching is based on ethnics. As the largest Jewish Registry in the world, Ezer Mizion is the natural address for an oncology clinic working with a Jewish patient in Europe, Russia, South Africa, South America, Australia, Canada and the US.
Ezer Mizion saves lives around the globe.
In April 2017, 14 of 31 transplants were done for Israeli residents and 17 for countries around the world including 6 in US and Canada.
Did the partnership with the IDFcreate any significant change in the success of finding DNA matches?
Due to IDF recruits being young and healthy, they remain on the database for decades, thus greatly increasing the chances of eventually being found to be a match for a patient. In addition, they come from highly varied backgrounds resulting in much increased representation among minority ethnic groups.
IDF recruit being congratulated on his saving a life
In April 2017, 18 of the 21 transplants funded by donor pools are IDF recruits, some having been inducted and joined the registry just a few months ago.
How long, on the average, does it take for a new Bone Marrow Donor Pool to receive the at long awaited letter: You have saved a life!
There can, of course, be no guarantees. In April of 2017, 4 of the 21 transplants funded by donor pools were opened within the last half year.
Everyone dreams about it. Very few ever have the opportunity. I was one of those very few. True, I didn’t jump into the ocean and save a child from drowning or dash into a burning building to save a baby but I did save a life. A forty-year-old cancer patient had only one chance to survive—a bone marrow transplant. A genetic match is vital for success and I was that genetic match. An Ezer Mizion staff member asked me if I would do it. Would I do it???! How could I not do it?! How could I live the rest of my life knowing that because of a little discomfort, a little inconvenience, a young woman was prevented from living the rest of hers? Continue reading Saving a Life: The See-Saw Remains on Up
In her early sixties, Chava was a young grandmother to seven grandchildren. She was looking forward to many milestones in the future until she discovered that her future was very uncertain indeed. Twelve years ago, she had been diagnosed with lymphoma. A self-transplant of stem cells resulted in a cure and the nightmare seemed to be over until several years later the disease returned. Would there be a cure this time? Only if a transplant can be performed using the stem cells of a genetically matching donor. The procedure was not difficult but finding this mysterious donor whose DNA corresponded to hers seemed to be nothing short of miraculous. He could be any place where Jews of her ethnic group have settled…South America, Canada, US, Australia, Europe. Anywhere. The first step was to contact Ezer Mizion, the largest Jewish registry in the world with its database of over 800,000 potential donors. And, lo and behold, there he was, right there in Israel. Continue reading Watching the Grandchildren Grow Up…Together: A DNA Success Story
