Over the past few years, many of our families have lost loved ones through cancer.

You may not have realized that cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma can be cured. This requires a donor whose white blood cell type is compatible with that of the sufferer.

The greatest chance of finding a compatible donor lies with those who share the same ethno-geographic ancestry.

As our community is small, the pool of Jewish donors is sparse. Hence, many of our loved ones will die when they might otherwise have been saved.

Right at this moment, the search is pressing for several Jewish patients in Australia and around the world.

It is particularly urgent for Olga.

Olga is 56 years old and her family comes from Belarus. She lives in Melbourne and has two sons. One year ago she was diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia and one month ago she relapsed. Her only real chance of survival today is a stem cell transplant.

As none of her many friends and relatives around the world have been found to be a perfect match, her situation is desperate.

However, you can help.

By joining the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry with a simple blood test, you may save a life.

Those aged 18-50 are eligible to join. Those older or younger can pass this information on to their family and friends. Olga's greatest chance of a match will come from those who are of Russian or Eastern European origin.

If, in the future, you are found to be a match for someone in need, you will be asked to donate a few hours of your time to collect life-saving stem cells via a simple procedure. To date more than 50,000 such procedures have been performed without any known long-term side effects.

It is hard to predict whom you will give a second chance at life. However, the greatest mitzvah is when the giver doesn't know to whom he has given, and the receiver doesn't know from whom he has received.

As it says in the Talmud: "He who saves one life, it is as if he had saved the entire world".