The Cancer Couch Foundation

What The Cancer Couch Foundation does

The Cancer Foundation (TCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Athens, Georgia, that provides direct financial and nutritional assistance to low-income cancer patients in active treatment across 25 counties in Northeast Georgia. Founded in 2005 by oncologists and social workers from Northeast Georgia Cancer Care (now University Cancer & Blood Center, UCBC), the organization launched its Financial Assistance Program in 2009 and has since disbursed more than $5.1 million to close to 6,000 patients. TCF has never turned an eligible patient away due to lack of funds, with payments made directly to vendors rather than to patients to ensure funds are used for intended non-medical expenses.

The foundation operates two core programs. The Financial Assistance Program provides grants of up to $1,000 per eligible patient per calendar year for housing, utilities, transportation, insurance premiums, medical supplies, dietary supplements, and funeral expenses; eligibility is restricted to households at or below 250% of Federal Poverty Guidelines, and the average household income served is approximately $18,000. The Nutritional Assistance Program delivers weekly on-site pantry access at TCF offices plus monthly Mobile Pantry events across the region (in FY24, 6,422 meals were provided to 87 patients on-site; in 2024, four Mobile Pantries served 1,892 individuals from 606 households). Application intake runs through a Salesforce-based secure client portal in which over 35 partner healthcare and social service providers submit referrals on behalf of patients, with applications processed within 24-48 hours.

Revenue is generated entirely through charitable giving channels: individual donations (including Cheers! honorary and Remember with Love memorial gifts), corporate sponsorships (Golden Pantry, Jackson EMC, BankSouth, Piedmont, and others), planned giving via the Light & Legacy Society (Visionary Circle $5,000/yr; Impact Circle $3,000/yr + 10 volunteer hours) and the 2025-launched Leebern Leadership Society, signature fundraising events (Sip 'N Shuck, Tee Off Against Cancer Golf Tournament, Adios to Cancer Charity Golf Tournament), food drive hosting, and merchandise sales through Bonfire and Redstone Market. The organization holds GuideStar Platinum Charity Rating, is registered under Georgia's Charitable Solicitations Act, and operates with a core staff of 7 plus an 11-member Board of Directors.

Name

The Cancer Couch Foundation

Legal name

The Cancer Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://cancerfoundationofnega.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides direct financial grants (up to $1,000/patient/year) and nutritional food assistance to low-income cancer patients in active treatment across 25 counties in Northeast Georgia, funded through individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and community fundraising events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Cancer Patient Assistance Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Disease-Specific Research & Support (e.g., Cancer, Diabetes, ALS) (BPAGACAA)

Keywords

• Cancer patient assistance
• Financial aid programs
• Nutritional support services
• Nonprofit healthcare funding
• Community cancer fundraising

Headquarters

HQ city

Athens

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring gifts from individual donors, including memorial and honorary donations through the Cheers! program. Gifts may be made in honor of anniversaries, birthdays, survivorship milestones, or as memorial tributes.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate partners sponsor events and programs. Platinum-tier sponsors and community partners provide financial support in exchange for brand visibility at events and across TCF's digital platforms.
3. Planned Giving (Legacy Donations): The Light & Legacy Society accepts planned gifts including wills, trusts, and contractual agreements. Visionary Circle members invest $5,000 annually; Impact Circle members invest $3,000 annually plus 10 hours of volunteer service. The Leebern Leadership Society honors major benefactors including Don and Suzanne Leebern.
4. Food Drive Hosting & Volunteer Engagement: Community members and organizations host food drives to supply the Patient Pantry Program. In FY24, 6,422 meals were provided to 87 patients through food drive donations and community volunteer support.
5. Merchandise Sales: TCF sells branded merchandise including t-shirts through Bonfire. The 'I Wear Pink with Purpose' shirt supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Tailgate for a Cause grilling packages sold through Redstone Market include a portion donated to TCF.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides direct financial assistance grants of up to $1,000 per eligible cancer patient per calendar year for non-medical living expenses (housing, utilities, transportation, insurance premiums, medical supplies, dietary supplements, funeral costs) and a Nutritional Assistance Program offering on-site and mobile food pantries. All services are funded through individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and community fundraising events.

Product overview

The Cancer Foundation operates as a nonprofit organization offering two core assistance programs: the Financial Assistance Program (providing up to $1,000/year per patient for non-medical expenses like housing, utilities, and transportation) and the Nutritional Assistance Program (providing on-site pantry and mobile pantry food services). The organization supports its mission through various fundraising events (Sip 'N Shuck, Tee Off Against Cancer Golf Tournament, Adios to Cancer Golf Tournament), donor giving societies (Leebern Leadership Society, Light & Legacy Society), and community engagement programs (Food Drive hosting, Champions of Hope awards). The Financial Assistance Program uses a Salesforce-based client portal for applications, while the Nutritional Assistance Program includes weekly on-site pantry access and bimonthly mobile pantry events across 25 Northeast Georgia counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Leebern Leadership Society: A giving society created in 2025 to honor the memory of Don Leebern and to bring together supporters who lead with generosity and compassion in supporting cancer patients.
• Light & Legacy Society
• Remember with Love
• Cheers!
• Patient Pantry Program
• Mobile Pantry

Products and services

• Financial Assistance Program Direct financial grants of up to $1,000 per eligible patient per calendar year to cover non-medical living expenses including rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation to treatment, health insurance premiums, medical supplies, and dietary supplements. Payments are made directly to vendors rather than to patients.
• Nutritional Assistance Program (Patient Pantry) Provides weekly on-site shelf-stable groceries to eligible cancer patients and supports households impacted by cancer across 25 Northeast Georgia counties. In FY24, the program provided 6,422 meals to 87 patients.
• Mobile Pantry Events Monthly pop-up food pantry events held on the last Wednesday of each month at community locations in Northeast Georgia, providing approximately 50-pound food boxes to any household impacted by cancer. Pre-registration is required via Ticket Tailor.
• Light & Legacy Society Planned giving program with two membership tiers for major donors. Includes exclusive recognition, quarterly leadership updates, early event access, and annual member reports.
• Leebern Leadership Society Major donor recognition society honoring Don Leebern's legacy, bringing together supporters who lead with generosity and compassion in supporting cancer patients.
• Cheers! Honorary Donation Program Donation program allowing donors to make honorary gifts for anniversaries, birthdays, survivorship milestones, bell-ringing celebrations, or memorials. Recipients receive customized notecards or e-cards.
• Remember with Love Memorial Program Memorial donation program allowing families to designate The Cancer Foundation as the recipient of contributions made in memory of a loved one, accompanied by an annual candlelight vigil event.
• Sip 'N Shuck Annual Fundraiser Signature annual oyster-themed cocktail party fundraiser for donors and community supporters, generating program funding through sponsorships and ticket sales.
• Host a Food Drive Program Community engagement program enabling workplaces, schools, faith communities, and civic groups to organize food drives supplying the Patient Pantry Program.
• Champions of Hope Awards Annual recognition program honoring outstanding supporters through awards such as Legacy of Light, Hope Builder, Trailblazer, Beacon of Hope, Comeback Champion, and Spirit of Hope.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $5.1 million provided to close to 6,000 cancer patients since 2009
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Golden PantrycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 20252025 Community Partner and premiere sponsor of the Remember with Love program. Golden Pantry's logo appears on TCF's memorial program materials and sponsorship pages, providing brand visibility in exchange for supporting local cancer patients.
• Piedmont Athens RegionalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20252025 Community Partner providing healthcare and social service referrals to TCF. Multiple volunteers from Piedmont Athens Regional participate in mobile pantry events, supporting TCF's nutritional assistance operations.
• Jackson EMCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20252025 Community Partner and premiere sponsor. Jean Mullis, Neese District Manager at Jackson EMC, serves on TCF's Board of Directors. Jackson EMC also provides volunteers for mobile pantry events.
• Northside Georgia Cancer InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20252025 Community Partner providing patient referrals to TCF's Financial Assistance Program. Serves the oncology patient population across Northside Hospital's cancer care network in Georgia.
• Northeast Georgia Health SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20252025 Community Partner. Multiple volunteers from Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow participate in mobile pantry events, supporting TCF's community outreach.
• Redstone Market & ButcherminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Participates in 'Tailgate for a Cause,' selling grilling packages with a portion of every sale donated to TCF. Provides a cause marketing channel for TCF while driving customer engagement for Redstone.
• Food Bank of Northeast GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Referenced as a resource for patients needing additional food assistance beyond TCF's Mobile Pantry. TCF's website directs patients to Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's pantry finder tool for supplementary support.
• McConnell FamilycoreOthers · 1 January 2022The Light & Legacy Society was named in part to honor the McConnell Family, whose daughter Kelli fought triple-negative breast cancer. The family dedicates time, talent, and treasure to TCF, turning their profound loss into ongoing support for other cancer patients.
• University Cancer & Blood Center (UCBC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Founded in 2005 by oncologists and social workers from Northeast Georgia Cancer Care (now UCBC). UCBC and TCF maintain an ongoing referral partnership. UCBC sponsors the annual Remember with Love Candlelight Vigil. TCF was created specifically to assist UCBC patients missing appointments and declining treatment due to high costs.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: National voluntary health organization funding blood-cancer research and providing patient support including limited financial assistance for non-medical expenses. Overlaps with TCF on patient financial support and competes for cancer-cause donations in Georgia.
• The Assistance Fund: Independent charitable organization providing financial assistance for copays, coinsurance, deductibles, and other health-related expenses for underinsured patients, including those with cancer. Functions as a national-scale version of TCF's vendor-direct payment model.
• CancerCare: National nonprofit offering financial assistance, counseling, support groups, and educational resources to anyone affected by cancer. A broader incumbent that overlaps with TCF's financial assistance mission but at national scale and with a wider service portfolio.
• Livestrong Foundation: National nonprofit supporting cancer survivors with navigation, financial counseling, and fertility preservation resources. While Livestrong historically provided direct financial assistance via the Livestrong Foundation, it now operates more as an advocacy and navigation organization with overlapping donor pool competition.
• Susan G. Komen: Largest breast cancer-focused nonprofit in the U.S., funding research, community health programs, and direct support. While primarily a research funder, Komen's local affiliates provide patient navigation and some financial assistance, competing with TCF for the same Georgia donor base.
• HealthWell Foundation: Independent, nationwide nonprofit that provides financial assistance to underinsured patients for out-of-pocket costs including treatment, supplies, and some living expenses. Operates at significantly larger scale than TCF across multiple disease areas.
• Patient Advocate Foundation: National nonprofit providing case management, financial aid, and co-pay relief to patients with chronic, life-threatening, and debilitating illnesses, including cancer. Shares TCF's mission of mitigating financial toxicity but operates nationally with paid staff and a broader service mix.

Direct peers

• Pink Fund: National nonprofit that provides direct financial assistance to breast cancer patients in active treatment for non-medical cost-of-living expenses (housing, utilities, transportation). Pink Fund is the closest direct functional peer to TCF's Financial Assistance Program, with TCF additionally extending to all cancer types.
• Food Bank of Northeast Georgia: Regional food bank referenced as a direct TCF partner that provides supplemental food assistance to patients beyond what TCF's Mobile Pantry can cover. Closest geographic peer on the nutritional-assistance side of TCF's mission.
• Family Reach: Nonprofit focused on eliminating the financial barriers to cancer treatment by providing direct financial assistance, resource navigation, and financial coaching to families affected by cancer. Operates a similar referral-based model with hospital partners nationwide.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-cancer-foundation

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Cancer Couch Foundation