The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation was created in 1996 in honor of Jay McGillis. Jay was a special young man who developed leukemia while a member of Coach Coughlin’s football team at Boston College. In the months between Jay’s diagnosis and the day he lost his battle with cancer, the Coughlin family saw first-hand the physical, emotional and financial strains that the illness caused the McGillis Family. After going through the tragic events with Jay’s family, Coach Coughlin vowed to help families with children tackling cancer. He started the foundation to “BE THERE” in Jay’s honor. Since 1996, the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund has helped over 4,000 families, and disseminated over $8 million in grants to support families in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area and Northeast Florida. Their team works tirelessly to help families pay household bills including mortgages, rent, car, electric, water, phone, food, medical equipment and other expenses during their time of family crisis. They also offer financial guidance and tools to help parents organize medical appointments and track expenses. Working hand-in-hand, families are empowered with information and the resources to implement a budget and maintain financial health. The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund also provides college scholarships to patients and survivors helping young adults realize their long-term goals and dreams. In addition to financial assistance and planning support, The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund offers children and families once-in-a-lifetime experiences to make a child’s life brighter and create happy memories for the whole family. They also host special, fun events so families and children can come together with others facing similar challenges. These events enable families tackling childhood cancer to BE THERE for each other with emotional support, love and friendship. In addition, the foundation supports survivorship programs, entertainment, games and more at outpatient and inpatient facilities.
BTIG COLLABORATION AND IMPACT:
For the past seven years, The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation has been a recipient of donations through its partnership with BTIG Charity Day. To support families facing the unthinkable, BTIG’s donations have contributed to The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund’s programs allowing parents to focus solely on their child’s well-being. The funds donated through BTIG Charity Day help provide comprehensive support to families tackling childhood cancer in three critical ways – through financial assistance and financial planning, making a child’s life brighter, and improving their quality of life. One recent example of BTIG’s impact is the current expansion of their relationship with the Hassenfeld Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at NYU Langone Medical Center to provide an Emergency Household Expenses grant. This important grant will allow the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund to continue to BE THERE for pediatric oncology families in the five boroughs of NYC through critical financial support.
“I am grateful to everyone at BTIG for their ongoing support and commitment to the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, and our mission to provide comprehensive support to the many families tackling childhood cancer. Thanks to you, we can continue to BE THERE for families facing the unthinkable.”
–Coach Tom Coughlin, Founder of The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund