The Pink Fund

"Although progress in breast cancer treatment is laudable... Efforts must now turn to confront the financial devastation that many patients face, particularly as they progress into survivorship. To cure a patient’s disease at the cost of financial ruin falls short of the physician’s duty to serve, and failure to recognize and mitigate a patient’s financial distress is no longer acceptable."
-Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, University of Michigan

While fighting for their lives, many breast cancer patients in active treatment lose their livelihood. Unable to work during treatment, patients experience a loss of income that can result in catastrophic financial losses and the need to rebuild financial health. The Pink Fund provides a financial bridge for breast cancer patients in active treatment; covering expenses for housing, transportation, utilities, and insurance. This helps meet basic needs, decrease stress levels, and allow patients to focus on healing while improving survivorship outcomes.

The Pink Fund serves breast cancer patients throughout the United States who are in active treatment and have lost income due to their breast cancer diagnosis (i.e., leave of absence, reduced hours, etc.)

Our 90-day financial bridge program pays up to $3,000 to cover non-medical cost-of-living expenses for housing, transportation, utilities and insurance. Payments are made directly to patient’s creditors.

The Pink Fund receives applications from breast cancer patients across the country representing all walks of life, from hourly workers making minimum wage, to post graduate therapists unable to work through treatment.

To provide a holistic solution for the financial impact of a breast cancer diagnosis The Pink Fund is working to "bookend" the financial bridge program. Patients will be armed with financial and health literacy education to help them navigate through their options for income, employment, health insurance, co-pay assistance, etc. while in treatment. To help patients rebuild financial health, The Pink Fund will introduce a back to work program for patients post treatment.

In the last fiscal year, The Pink Fund distributed $805,873.25 in bill payments on behalf of 337 patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer. (FY19-20)

As of May 2021, The Pink Fund has distributed $5 million, assisting 2,878 patients in active treatment.

The Pink Fund’s financial bridge program is sustained by a diverse group of donors, including corporate partners, grant makers, individual donors. In addition, there has been a groundswell of support for The Pink Fund from people around the country who have been touched by breast cancer holding fundraisers benefiting The Pink Fund, from indie rock concerts to walks, rallies, car washes, and school pink outs. In 2017, The Pink Fund received the first quarter million-dollar donation towards its endowment to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization, and received its first million-dollar pledge in 2019.

Since its inception in 2006, The Pink Fund has provided steady financial support to breast cancer patients in treatment. With an accordion style funding policy, where available funding is expanded and constricted relative to income, and a budgeted reserve the financial bridge program has never

In 2005, Molly MacDonald was diagnosed with breast cancer during a job transition. Unemployed and unemployable while she underwent treatment, the addition of a $1,300 monthly COBRA premium catapulted the family into financial freefall. Within months, the home went into foreclosure, and she found herself standing in line at a food bank. Molly met other working women in treatment experiencing similar financial challenges. Unable to find a single organization to help, her quest to Get Help, became one to Give Help.

With the help of her husband and a handful of volunteers, she launched The Pink Fund at her kitchen table in 2006 and provided Michigan breast cancer patients with up to 90 days of financial support.

In 2012, with the help of Ford Warriors In Pink, The Pink Fund expanded to a national non-profit, serving breast cancer patients nationwide.

As of November 2019, The Pink Fund has made more than $3.75 million in patient financial support, making direct payments to patients' creditors for housing, transportation, utilities and insurance.

In 2020, faced with an unprecedented pandemic, The Pink Fund launched its One Less Worry Facebook Live series to educate breast cancer patients and advocates on how to navigate the financial impact of a breast cancer diagnosis. Weekly interviews with industry experts cover topics such as health literacy, navigating cost of care, insurance optimization, debt management, financial planning, wills and trusts, employee rights, and employment post treatment. The series provides a road map to guide patients through their breast cancer diagnosis to avoid pitfalls that would exacerbate the toxic financial side effects. As this series expands, we will be working to help patients get “Back To Your Future” by building a community where patients feel safe to discuss their financial burdens, seek support, and rebuild financial health.

Today, The Pink Fund provides a financial bridge to breast cancer patients across the United States; and is providing education on financial and health literacy, and advocating for patients on the policy level.