The Samfund

This charity has stayed connected with me after helping with funds and even on FB has supported me through my personal life. They are helpful even with resources outside their areas of expertise and are happy to refer me to other options available to help me. I am absolutely positive that I would not be in such a good place that I am now, if it wasn't for the SamFund.

This is organization is extremely well run and is focused on getting the dollars to the people who need them. Their CEO is amazing and inspiring! This is an excellent organization to support.

The best day of my life was the day I became cancer-free. The second best day of my life was the day I received the call from The SAMFund telling me that I was going to be given a grant. As a survivor, it was traumatizing enough going through cancer treatment at such a young age. It was almost just as bad going through the financial trauma immediately following. It's like you survive the hardest thing you've ever gone through, and when you're done, you're not. You still have to learn to figure out a way to survive after the financial toll of cancer. My grant enabled me in ways that I can not even put into words. My grant helped with my balance I held at my oncology center where I was still going to regularly for post-treatment checkups. The balance was so high that I would nearly get turned away because I wasn't able to make the large payments. The SAMFund got me a laptop for school. I was just about to graduate when I was diagnosed, and it really took a toll on me. That laptop was a tool that I desperately needed to complete my portfolio and graduate in the degree that I am so passionate about. The SAMFund granted me a gym membership to help build my strength up following chemo and radiation. This is just a small glimpse as to how I have been helped by The SAMFund. They really gave me insight on survivorship, and enabled me to become the person I am today. I have been able to look back at my experience and see the silver lining within my diagnosis. The silver lining for me was The SAMFund. They will be forever remembered in my and my family's hearts, and I am so proud to call myself a survivor and SAMFund Alum.

Don't ask how you can help (rank things in order of need). Then decide to give something not on the list just to say you gave it. Very disappointed.

I am so proud of my daughter Samantha Eisenstein Watson for so many reasons. She created the SAMFund because as she recovered from two battles against cancer she saw a void and tried to do something about it. She understood as only a young adult cancer survivor could what was needed to help other survivors overcome the transition back to "normal life" after a successful battle against cancer. Nearly ten years later a smile still comes to her face each and every time we are able to tell a young man or woman, "yes we can help you..." Glenn Eisenstein

The SAMFund is helping me achieve my goals, not only in the short-term but for many years to come. Their scholarship has enabled me to focus much more on my academics than worry about my health insurance and fertility bills. I can’t thank the SAMFund enough for all their help!

The SAMFund is an amazing organization because it fills a void in the world of cancer needs. There are many organizations that cater to the emotional and physical issues that surround cancer, and many that fund research to find new cures, but the SAMFund is the only one that I know of that provides financial support for young adult cancer survivors, a population that experiences the effects of cancer in a different way than other age groups. It's hard enough to find one's place in the world but when cancer is added to the mix that task becomes even harder. I have seen a couple close friends and relatives fall behind in their careers and graduate schooling which were only just starting when they became ill. Though they were fortunate to survive their cancer experience, the debt they incurred because of it was a burden. The SAMFund helped them pay off loans and debts which would otherwise have continued to mount. It is an incredibly important organization that more people need to know about.

The SAMFund is an awesome organization that assists young adults with expenses after cancer. I've never heard of another organization doing this. Beating cancer is only half the battle. Survivors must deal with huge bills after treatment. This economy is tough on every young adult, and with the additional burden of cancer, it can seem almost impossible for young survivors. The SAMFund gives them hope! By paying for something as simple as a gym membership, The SAMFund makes these survivor’s lives so much easier. After beating cancer, the last issue on your mind should be ridiculous bills. The SAMFund not only provides grants and scholarships, but also has events for survivors to get together and have fun. It's such a unique organization and I truly wish it could fund all of the applications.

I am a 6-year cancer survivor of Hodgkins Lymphoma and a recipient of a grant from the SamFund. Receiving a grant from the SamFund has enabled me to move forward in my life because it alleviated some unexpected and huge financial burdens I had come up in the past year. The SamFund has helped so many cancer survivors with similar issues and truly provides a unique and necessary service for us to be able to live our new, normal lives.

As a SAMFund recipient, I can attest to the great work they do! I was awarded funding to assist with prescription drug and medical bills, as well as transportation costs. As a student living in NYC, it was HUGE burden lifted off my shoulders to have this help. I am a survivor of Hodgkin's Disease and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. My youngest sister was the donor for my Bone Marrow Transplant, and there are a lot of long-term side effects that have proven costly and sometimes restricting. I am a doctoral student studying the aftermath of childhood illness. THANK YOU, SAMFund for helping survivors move on!!!!

I have received a grant from the SAMFund for 2 years. This organization was a financial resource to me when I couldn't find help anywhere else. I am a 3 time cancer survivor, and am applying to medical school. In addition to the rigorous course load and stressful application process, I found that there are many costs associated with this. The pre-requisite course fees, MCAT testing, application fees and more. Even more importantly, the SAMFund paid my Cobra health insurance fees, which allowed me to keep medical care for a year!

The SAMFund provides an amazing source of support for an underserved population- young adult survivors of cancer. In my case, I was too old for most grants and scholarships, but due to the nature of my field of work (independent contractor in the musical arts) I did not have the kind of safety net that most people my age had: insurance benefits and one steady source of income that I could count on to help me get back on my feet post-treatment. Most of the scholarships and/or grants I came across during my research had narrow targets and missions, which is great and necessary to serve the populations they serve. However, it raised serious questions for me- questions that I had not had to encounter before: as an artist, my life and career path were pretty divergent from most people's- was that a mistake? Was the career success I'd had prior to cancer useless to me now that I was fighting for my life? The SAMFund had a very large part in convincing me that was not the case. With their support, I recently traveled to Italy to begin my first exploratory return to opera singing. It was a test for me- did I still have what it takes to work in this field? Do I still have the passion after two years of treatment and healing? Is it worth it? Should I just go get an office job and give up what was my life's work? After 5 weeks of working with a dedicated teacher, and studying with coaches from the world's most prestigious opera companies, the answer was a resounding, "No!" This answer didn't only come from inside myself- I was continually pulled aside by various members of the faculty for conferences in which I was offered support and encouragement by people who had worked with the best singers in the business. To think- just a few months before this program I had given up singing for quite a while, not sure how I was going to get back on my feet with such huge financial obstacles standing in my way. At the present moment, I am preparing to move closer to the teacher I studied with at the program- his conservatory has recruited me to do a year of intense private study with him in preparation for a relaunching of my career. None of this would have been possible without the support of the SAMFund, and I will be eternally grateful to them that they understand that young adults have specific needs and challenges surrounding encounters with cancer- needs and challenges that are different from other populations.

In April of 2005, my life changed forever. I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I was a healthy 26 year old - my family and I were very much in shock. After undergoing 7 rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, total body radiation, a bone marrow transplant and living in at the Mayo Clinic for about 10 months, I was finally cancer free. After you recover, people expect you to get back to "normal." Physical, emotional and financial tolls are just a few of the after-effects. The SAMFund UNDERSTOOD that I was a young adult cancer survivor who needed help! In 2006, I wrote an essay on my cancer experience and the SAMFund awarded me with some funding to help pay for schooling, car insurance and a car payment. Having those things taken care of was a HUGE RELIEF. I am now proudly a part of the SAMFund's Grant and Scholarship Committee. I know firsthand that the SAMFund truly cares about each applicant and wants to help make a young adult cancer survivor's life a bit easier by providing scholarships for things even as simple as a rent payment or a car payment. I think the SAMFund serves a purpose that has been priceless to me as well as so many others.

Friends, family, coworkers, nobody seems to understand how isolating, scary, and downright horrible it is to be dealing with a cancer diagnosis in the "prime" of you life. I was a caregiver to my husband during his treatment, as well as our small children. The SAMFund is an incredible organization full of compassion and understanding, and tangible assistance. Only now, years later, have I begun to find peace with the whole experience by meeting and working with others who simply understand.

SAMFund is awesome and unique in the population it serves and how it does so. Started by someone who truly understands what difficulties young adult survivors encounter, I was so excited to find out that an organization like this existed. It is hard enough to be a young adult trying to make it in the world, and then throw in managing severe health complications from cancer treatment and all the bills that come with it, and I was feeling extremely overwhelmed and helpless. SAMFund helped alleviate some of that financial burden, improving my quality of life and allowing me to focus on important long-term goals in the process.

I have had the honor and pleasure of being involved with the SAMFund for the past five years and have seen this wonderful and unique organization grow from a seed to a flower to a garden and beyond. As a member of the Grants and Scholarships Committee, I can attest to the thoughtful, caring nature of the SAMFund and its volunteers as well as the effectiveness of the help that the SAMFund provides. The SAMFund answers a truly unique need for young adult survivors of cancer. Because of the SAMFund's holistic vision and understanding of what helps a young adult survivor get back on his or her feet, the assistance that the SAMFund awards provides not only financial and stress relief but also helps recipients move beyond those well-known worries, helping them pursue and achieve goals and dreams that had to be put on hold –- whether those dreams are to start or finish college, pursue training in a specific field or interest, receive assistance with costly fertility treatments, or to join a gym or attend a yoga retreat or “simply” for a plane ticket to attend a convention for cancer survivors. Many of our recipients have told the SAMFund that they would not have been able to achieve their goals and dreams and move beyond their cancer experience had it not been for the help of the SAMFund. What a fantastic gift to be able to give! Of course, every member of the Grants and Scholarships Committee would like to fund every single request that comes in to the SAMFund and hopes that someday that dream will be a reality, but until then there are always difficult decisions to be made. I have been a part of many very difficult discussions and decisions and can assure that the volunteers of this special organization are so thoughtful and thorough, caring and sensitive in their decision making process. Every decision that is made to fund a request is made in such a way as to insure that the we are providing the most effective and greatest amount of assistance possible. The SAMFund is an extraordinary organization and one that I hope to be a part of for years to come.

Sam Eisenstein Watson runs an incredible organization! She is incredibly inspiring. I heard her story at a networking event and instantly had to get to know her and become involved with The SAMFund. Her diligence, knowledge, and generosity is unmatched and she has done the young adult survivor community a huge service. The SAMFund is truly a terrific organizaion!

thesamfund reaches out to those young adults who are struggling to get through a most difficult aftermath. What a great organization.

The SamFund is one of the greatest organization I have ever come across. Thank you for your great work now and in the future!

The SAMFund is such an amazing organization for young adult cancer survivors. Their focus on helping those who've battled cancer move forward in their lives is meeting a huge need. Cancer survivors need support after cancer too! I am a survivor of Hodgkins Lymphoma and received a grant with rent assistance in 2007. At that time, I was a full time student who was just trying to make ends meet as many people do. With my added expenses due to cancer such as doctor's visits, prescriptions and lab work there wasn't anything extra to go around. The ability to have my rent paid for a few months helped take away the stress! The SAMFund helps so many in so many ways. The organization and those who run it are AMAZING!!

The SAMFund is an amazing organization that gives grants to young cancer survivors in order to help them begin their lives again. The grant I received from The SAMFund helped to pay my rent while I paid off medical bills and began my Master's education. I love The SAMFund!

The SamFund is an amazing organization that provides much needed help to young cancer survivors. The SamFund is an invaluable resource for people like me who are trying to get back on their feet after a costly and traumatizing cancer experience. I can't say enough about the SamFund, they are absolutely wonderful!

The SAMFund is one of the most amazing organizations!! Through their generosity, many cancer survivors, myself included, have been able move past difficult times as a result of the financial support they have provided. Many people don't realize that the effects of cancer linger well beyond the completion of treatment and trying to explain that to others who don't know can be difficult. Sam and Michelle were so kind and understanding of my situation and never once showed anything but compassion. I can't imagine what would have happened to me had SAMFund not been there to help.

I've had the great pleasure of seeing the SAMFund grow from an idea among friends, to a massive grant-giving organization affecting lives across the country. The applications we receive at the SAMFund are compelling, heart-wrenching, and almost always worthy of support. Choosing how and where we allot funds is an excruciatingly difficult process, but I have seen the staff and volunteers at SAMFund execute this task with grace, respect, and love for the applicants. It is a fantastic team that is creating new opportunities for young people battling the after-effects of their illnesses. I consider myself lucky to be involved with the SAMFund and can't wait to see how much they grow as time passes.

The SAMFund helps gives back independence and peace of mind. Disability/Social Security/Unemployment is just not enough and finances quickly become overwhelming. The SAMFund fills a broad spectrum of otherwise overlooked financial needs for young cancer survivors.

The SamFund fills what was formerly a void in services and opportunities for young-adult survivors. Samantha Watson's vision, passion, and first-hand knowledge is helping men and women reestablish themselves after treatment. It is an amazing organization that helps an often overlooked population.

The SAMFund is the only organization that provides support to young adult cancer survivors. They make a huge difference in our lives by serving as an informational resource, providing financial support, and by raising awareness.

Being a cancer survivor at the age of 25 is not exactly an expected event on the path to adulthood and independence. The SAMFund is there to not only help with all the unexpected financial burdens that come with cancer, but they are also there to provide understanding and support in a sometimes very lonely journey. I can't fully express the importance of the SAMFund's work in such a short narrative, but I can say that they are an amazing organization and I can never thank them enough for everything they have done and continue to do for myself and other young adult survivors!

Samantha and the fund greatly helped me after my diagnosis. After a couple months of chemo and surgeries, it leaves mind, body, and bank well depleted. She and her team provide a great service to young survivors by allowing us to take our minds off some portions of the whole process and concentrate on mind and body. Thanks again Sam for everything!

The SAMFund helped me out in ways unimaginable. I received a grant from them in 2008 to assist with my medical bills, etc, from cancer treatment. Their support has changed my life, and helped me move on from my treatment. I am continuously spreading the word about the SAMFund because I hope to help someone out, like SAMFund helped me out. I am deeply touched for what the organization has done for me.

This organization is so incredibly dedicated to the growing population of young adult cancer survivors. A grant in 2008 relieved a great deal of financial pressure for my boyfriend, who is putting himself through school while attempting to pay off numerous medical bills from his cancer treatment. The SAMFund is superbly run and does not stop at financial support. Events that bring together survivors celebrate life, create an open forum for discussion of issues and experiences, and, perhaps most importantly, create a powerful community to promote their motto: surviving and moving forward.

The SAMFund not only offers incredible living grants to young adult cancer survivors (of which no other cancer survivor's org. offers), the personnel (Sam and Michelle) are 2 amazing women who make traversing the precarious terrain of the medical establishment, contacting insurance companies, and making timely payments on behalf of us, their recipients, look easy! Had it not been for the last 2 years that I was chosen as a grant recipient, I don't know how I would have survived as a student with a limited income and high expenses associated with having been ill. However, with those grants, I have now graduated, Summa Cum Laude, having been able to concentrate on reestablishing myself after the scary and unexpected cancer diagnosis at 26. Furthermore, I have had the privilege of working with the SAMFund as a recipient who can reach out to donors, express my gratitude toward and importance of their generosity, while collaborating on future fundraising efforts. SAMFund is a unique and necessary org that advocates and understands the challenges and opportunities associated with a cancer diagnosis. I am eternally grateful to them!

Knowing that the SAMFund donates its funds DIRECTLY to recipients so they can pay for their rent, school loans, tuition, even gym memberships (many cancer survivors need to keep in good physical condition just for insurance) gives me total peace of mind when donating to them. Kids in their 20s with no money is nothing new ... but those who are just coming out of cancer treatment, they're the ones who face the REAL obstacles. I'm happy to help them reduce their stress over paying some bills.

The SAMFund is a wonderful organization because it helps young adult survivors in such a practical way. After my cancer experience, I decided to become and oncologist. SAMFund helped me with the cost of applying to medical school, which was such a great relief! I start medical school in less than a month. Thanks again SAMFund!!

SAMFund has given hope to many young adults who still feel the impact of cancer. I was blessed to receive support in order to help me find permanent housing. My story with cancer led me to be homeless for a short time and SAMFund allowed me to find security again. Along with the support they provide, I have also been very impressed with their personal contact. After experiencing system after system, it was refreshing to be treated as a person and a friend.

The SAMFund is an amazing organization with which I've had the pleasure of working since close to its inception. Its founder, Sam Eisenstein is a friend from college who I met after her first major bout with cancer. She is an amazing woman who not only found the strength to beat cancer, but to use her experience to help others. The SAMFund recognized an under-represented base of need in this country, and has done so much already to help. I've met a number of recipients as well as donors who believe so fully in this cause that many have taken helping to an almost full-time level. In an economic climate like today's, there is no better time for a group like the SAMFund to be in existence helping to keep young survivors going and on top of their bills and in charge of their lives.

As a survivor of cancer the SAMfund has helped to provide me with assistance in persueing my dreams. Besides the monetary assistance, I have seen and met other survivors who have over come the difficulties they have been faced with in their early lives and it has helped give me confidence to face my own difficulties. It has made an impact on my life that I am forever gratefull for.

As a young adult cancer survivor getting back on my feet medically, socially and financially was a long road. After undergoing treatment for leukemia, and two bone marrow transplants my meager savings were depleted, and social security barely covered the mortgage never mind a Boston heating bill during a harsh winter. The Samfund provided me with the financial relief I needed, paying for some of my utilities. What the Samfund was able to provide made a world of difference and helped me sleep better at night. I am forever grateful to the Samfund and as payback I help the Samfund in any way I can to ensure young adult cancer survivors like myself, are recognized and helped where other cancer organizations fail to fulfill our needs.

The SAMFund holds a unique place amongst not just cancer-related organizations, but non-profits in general. Founder and cancer survivor Sam Eisenstein Watson focuses on a niche — young adult survivors of cancer — and recognizes that the tremendous financial costs of battling the disease can be more difficult to battle than the emotional ones. People are strong, and with love and support can show amazing resilience. But bank accounts are fluid, and can too quickly be drained with hospital bills, coupled with missed work or school. By providing financial assistance to young adult survivors of cancer, and working tirelessly for those it helps, The SAMFund empowers the individuals it helps to regain control of their lives after frightening interruptions from the disease.

After writing a grant application to the SAMFund, I was awarded funding for a year's worth of free yoga, all the physical therapy I needed, and car insurance coverage. After being on disability and using up all my savings, I had NO money to physically or mentally take care of myself post-cancer. The SAMFund made that possible. Now I go to Restorative Yoga classes as often as I want without worrying about the cost. It has worked wonders for me - physically and mentally. I feel I am finally gaining the control of my body that I felt I lost through my cancer experience. And I am taking care of myself in ways I never would've been able to afford.