Warren Spector
(l-r) of Bear
Stearns, Jay Feinberg of Gift of Life
Bone Marrow Foundation, and
author Evan Handler. |
GIFT OF LIFE
BONE MARROW FOUNDATION
Event
Raises Million Bucks
With Warren Spector’s Help
 EAR
STEARNS is a Wall Street financial giant that has always had a long
tradition of charitable involvement. For president and COO Warren
Spector, it was an instant decision to get involved with one more
charity – the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation. This one hit
close to home.
His sister Ruthie was
slated for a very risky bone marrow transplant at Sloan-Kettering.
“As a physician,
certified in three different disciplines – and you thought I was
smart! – Ruthie’s life purpose has been to save lives,”
Spector said at the Gift of Life dinner.
His mother used to say,
“You would trust a stranger? Warren, you can only trust your
family.”
“We, Mom,” Spector
said, “more than 60,000 strangers have been tested to see if they
might be the perfect match for Ruthie. Hey, you always said you
wanted a big family.”
Half of the people who
answered are in Israel, the rest in the U.S. and Canada. They
answered the call of Jay Feinberg, the foundation’s executive
director.
“The kindness of
strangers,” Spector said, “was only a phrase from a Tennessee
Williams play until the yeshiva students, Israeli soldiers,
housewives and all the other potential donors showed up to be
tested.”
As a result of the testing
done for Ruthie, 17 matches were found for other people in need of a
bone marrow transplant.
Evan Handler emceed the
dinner at the New York Hilton, which raised more than $1 million.
Handler is the author of Time on Fire: My Comedy of Errors, a moving
memoir of his dealing with leukemia and bone marrow transplant.
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