Tom Coughlin: McGillis’ Legacy

8/31/22

Former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is notorious for taking down Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s Patriots team in the two Super Bowls. Coughlin has won a Giant’s Ring of Honor and the Coach of the Year Award. The ex-Giant has already paved his way on the field, but both post-retirement and during his career has decided to extend his legacy to helping others.

A mere 4% of the National Cancer Institute's budget is set aside for Pediatric Cancer. This approaching September is both Pediatric Cancer Awareness and Hunger Action Month. The ex-Giants look to and have a history with both matters. 

Tom Coughlin’s Jay Fund Foundation aids families to pay for their expensive pediatric cancer treatments. Studies show that costs quickly stack up even with insurance for many Americans. The foundation also covers general household expenses to allow families to focus on their child's recovery.

Coughlin’s motivation for philanthropy came from personal experience. While coaching at Boston College football a player, Jay McGillis, was diagnosed with leukemia. Coughlin witnessed firsthand the mental, emotional, and especially financial strain cancer treatment had on the McGillis family. Through eight difficult months, Jay McGillis sadly lost his battle with cancer. Coughlin vowed that he would one day create a means to aid families touched by cancer.

He followed through on his promise and for over 20 years the Jay Fund has raised $28 million in support of over 5,800 families across New Jersey and Florida. The foundation has been expanding its operations to other areas of the country. 

The foundation has numerous initiatives. The Letters to Cancer program provides a platform for cancer patient families to vent their reflections on the cancer experience. Families write to address cancer directly almost as if it were a real person to truly lament their feelings. The Walk in My Shoes program offers families a platform to share their firsthand experience with cancer treatment. From when their child is first diagnosed, they describe the everyday hardships the disease has on their livelihoods and mental states. 

Those in need of aid can directly apply for assistance with a representative of the charity. Their provisions include emergency household expense coverage, scholarship grants, long long-term financial coaching. The foundation also has many social and interactive events for both raising awareness and funds.  

As families plunge into financial difficulty from cancer treatment, they struggle to put food on the table back at home. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 38 million people, and of that 12 million children suffer from food insecurity. During the pandemic, the foundation saw a significant increase in requests for food and rent coverage. One New York City mother with a post-transplant lymphoma-facing child shared her experience, “At the end of the month we are usually running out of food. I mix ramen noodles, and ground meat to stretch it the best I can, and I'll go without or eat less so my kids can be full. I've even gone as far as asking the local store owner to let me pay for my groceries when I receive my assistance check on the 3rd of the month."

In recent post-pandemic years, the cost of living for all Americans has risen greatly. Access to fresh and nutritional foods only becomes more out of reach for those suffering from the financial strain of cancer treatment. Coughlin embodies powerful solidarity for those in need that should be reflected in our communities. His foundation highlights the intricacies and unique nature of each family’s situations and feelings toward cancer. By giving these people a platform to share their stories, it instills a further understanding and obligation in the public.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Works Cited

Manning, Eli, and Tom Coughlin. "After Winning 2 Super Bowls Together, Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin Tackle Childhood Cancer and Hunger." People, 31 Aug. 2022, people.com/sports/eli-manning-tom-coughlin-team-up-fight-childhood-cancer-hunger/.

Tom Coughlin Jay Fund. tcjayfund.org/.