Jay Feinberg Named Jewish Community Hero

Jay Feinberg, from Boca Raton, Florida was awarded the 2010 Jewish Community Hero Award. The award marked the culmination of the second annual Jewish Community Heroes contest, in which more than 300,000 votes were cast online to recognize the selflessness and courage of those who are helping their communities through volunteer service.

Jay’s own struggle to find a bone marrow match, after being diagnosed with leukemia, inspired him to found the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, which is the only registry in the world founded and directed by a transplant recipient. Jay has made it his life’s work to save people in need of transplants by increasing the representation of Jewish people in the worldwide bone marrow registry, in order to overcome the devastating effects of the Holocaust which severed so many family bloodlines.

The Jewish Community Heroes contest is part of the Jewish Federations’ commitment to promote public service in communities across the United States and Canada. A total of 311,265 votes were cast in this year’s contest, which made use of social media, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to recognize the thankless work of more than 200 nominees from across the continent.