Mind The Gap: Why Giving Tuesday Matters
By Molly MacDonald
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and GIVING TUESDAY!!!!
How Nonprofits Mind the Gap
Nonprofits operate in the dynamic space between two sectors, combining compassion with practicality. They step in where the private sector cannot profit and where government services cannot reach. I think of this as MINDING THE GAP.
Mind the Gap: How Pink Fund Helps Breast Cancer Patients Stay Afloat, And Why Giving Tuesday Matters More Than Ever
If you’ve ever stood on a train platform you’ve seen or heard the phrase, “MIND THE GAP”. It’s a warning, a reminder to pay attention, and ultimately an invitation to safely cross from where you are to where you need to go. It’s a metaphor for the spaces, sometimes small, sometimes cavernous. For individuals diagnosed with breast cancer, those gaps often appear suddenly: between diagnosis and treatment, between working and not working, between income and survival.
This is the space where Pink Fund stands in the gap.
Breast cancer is not just a medical crisis, it’s a financial one. For many patients, treatment requires time away from work, reduced hours, or job loss altogether. While insurance may cover medical bills, it does not cover the daily financial responsibilities that continue to mount; housing, transportation, utilities and insurance. The result is a dangerous gap, one in which a patient’s ability to focus on healing is overshadowed by fear if they are unable to pay these basic household bills.
Pink Fund, through its nationally recognized Financial Bridge Program, minds that gap. It offers up to 90 days of non-medical financial assistance to breast cancer patients in active treatment, ensuring they can meet basic expenses while they fight for their lives. On this Giving Tuesday, donors have an opportunity to bridge this gap, so fewer patients and their families fall through.
The Gap Breast Cancer Patients Face
1. The Gap Between Insurance and Real Life
Medical insurance pays for treatment, but life doesn’t pause for cancer. Patients still have to pay their basic household bills. When a patient loses income or employment, even temporarily, these basic needs can quickly become unaffordable.
2. The Gap Between Employment and Ability to Work
Chemo, radiation, surgeries, and recovery periods often make full-time work impossible. Many breast cancer patients are forced to take unpaid leave. Some are self-employed or gig workers.
For patients living paycheck to paycheck, which is nearly 60% of Americans, losing even a portion of their income turns an already difficult diagnosis into a financial emergency.
How Pink Fund Minds the Financial Gap
Pink Fund doesn’t pay medical bills. Instead, it fills the non-medical financial gap that most systems overlook, one that can destabilize a patient’s entire foundation.
1. Keeping a Roof Over Patients’ Heads
Pink Fund helps pay rent or mortgage payments so patients can focus on healing rather than scrambling to avoid foreclosure, eviction and the ultimate threat of homelessness.
2. Keeping Transportation Accessible
A reliable car isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline to treatment. Pink Fund helps cover car payments and car insurance.
3. Keeping Homes Safe and Functional
Utility support ensures patients don’t have to worry about heat, electricity, or water while recovering, preserving stability for entire families.
4. Reducing Stress During the Most Vulnerable Time
Financial toxicity, the crushing stress of money troubles caused by cancer, can worsen patient outcomes. By relieving this pressure, Pink Fund helps patients focus on completing treatment without the fear of losing everything they’ve worked for.
5. Supporting Patients Nationwide
The Pink Fund’s support extends across the United States, assisting breast cancer patients from diverse backgrounds, regions, and economic situations. Its financial assistance program is designed to be equitable, impactful, and grounded in real human need.
Why Giving Tuesday Is Essential for Patients in Treatment
Giving Tuesday is often described as a global generosity movement, but for The Pink Fund it is something even more powerful: a lifeline.
1. More Patients Need Help Than Ever
Economic uncertainty, rising living costs, and the long-term financial impacts of medical leave have increased the number of breast cancer patients in need of support. Giving Tuesday fuels the fund so more patients can be served.
2. The Need Is Immediate
Unlike some nonprofits that plan for long-term projects, Pink Fund addresses urgent financial crises. Donations go directly toward bills that are due now, this
Giving Tuesday contributions help ensure the organization can respond quickly, bridging the gap before a patient falls.
3. Every Dollar Helps Keep Treatment on Track
Transportation and housing instability are among the top reasons patients skip or delay treatment. Pink Fund’s assistance keeps people on schedule with lifesaving care. Giving Tuesday funds help prevent treatment interruption, which can significantly affect survival outcomes.
4. It Amplifies Awareness of Financial Toxicity
Breast cancer is often framed as a medical challenge, but Giving Tuesday allows Pink Fund to highlight the financial impact that often goes unseen.
5. It Strengthens the Network That Catches Patients When They Fall
Pink Fund doesn’t operate in a vacuum. We collaborate with health care providers, social workers and navigators. Giving Tuesday helps maintain these partnerships and increases the organization’s capacity to catch those who might otherwise fall through.
3. The Gap in Government Assistance
Government programs provide important support, but they are not designed to respond quickly to sudden income disruption caused by a medical diagnosis
How The Pink Fund Minds the Financial Gap
The Pink Fund doesn’t pay medical bills. Instead, it fills the non-medical financial gap that most systems overlook, one that can destabilize a patient’s entire foundation.
1. Keeping a Roof Over Patients’ Heads
The Pink Fund helps pay for rent or mortgage payments so patients can focus on healing rather than scrambling to avoid homelessness or foreclosure.
2. Keeping Transportation Accessible
A reliable car isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline to treatment. The Pink Fund helps cover car payments, insurance, and sometimes gas so patients can get to their appointments safely and consistently.
3. Keeping Homes Safe and Functional
Utility support ensures patients don’t have to worry about heat, electricity, or water while recovering. It provides stability for entire families.
4. Reducing Stress During the Most Vulnerable Time
Financial toxicity, the crushing stress of money troubles caused by cancer, can worsen patient outcomes. By relieving this pressure, Pink Fund helps patients focus on completing treatment without the fear of losing everything they’ve worked for.
5. Supporting Patients Nationwide
Pink Fund’s support extends across the United States, assisting breast cancer patients from diverse backgrounds, regions, and economic situations. Its financial assistance program is designed to be equitable, impactful, and grounded in real human need.
Why Giving Tuesday Is Essential for Patients in Treatment
Giving Tuesday is often described as a global generosity movement, but for The Pink Fund it is something even more powerful: a lifeline.
1. More Patients Need Help Than Ever
Economic uncertainty, rising living costs, and the long-term financial impacts of medical leave have increased the number of breast cancer patients in need of support. Giving Tuesday fuels the fund so more patients can be served.
2. The Need Is Immediate
Unlike some nonprofits that plan for long-term projects, Pink Fund addresses urgent financial crises. Payments are made monthly to patient’s creditors.
Giving Tuesday contributions help ensure the organization can respond quickly.
3. Every Dollar Helps Keep Treatment on Track
Transportation and housing instability are among the top reasons patients skip or delay treatment. Pink Fund’s assistance keeps people on schedule with lifesaving care. Giving Tuesday funds help prevent treatment interruption, which can significantly affect survival outcomes.
5. It Strengthens the Network That Catches Patients When They Fall
Pink Fund doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It collaborates with hospitals, social workers, and medical teams. Giving Tuesday helps maintain these partnerships and increases the organization’s capacity to catch those who might otherwise fall through.
Mind the Gap, And Help Close It for Breast Cancer Patients
The gap between security and instability, between treatment and survival, between hope and hardship can be frightening for breast cancer patients. But Pink Fund is there, building a bridge one mortgage payment, one car payment, one utility payment, one health insurance premium , one stable month at a time.
On Giving Tuesday, we have the opportunity to reinforce that bridge.
Every contribution helps ensure patients can focus on healing instead.
Pink Fund minds the gap so breast cancer patients don’t fall through. On Giving Tuesday, we hope you will join us in providing a safe crossing for patients and their families.