ThinkBIG Pediatric Cancer Fund received a $25,000 First Federal Charitable Foundation grant it will use to help alleviate the stress of everyday financial expenses for families battling pediatric cancer.

ThinkBIG Pediatric Cancer Fund, which is based in Bloomsburg, services families across Northeast and Central Pennsylvania, including Carbon, Columbia, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties. Since its founding, it has helped 136 local families. Last year, the organization supported approximately 24 families with $53,000 in funding.

Although the THON/Four Diamonds Fund is well-known for its pediatric cancer financial assistance in the region, patients working with that organization must be treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital to be eligible. ThinkBIG Pediatric Cancer Fund Managing Director Mark Stankiewicz said his organization was founded so that families who are seeking pediatric cancer treatment at other medical institutions have access to a patient assistance fund.

Stankiewicz added that statistics show that 20 percent of pediatric cancer families are already living in poverty before their diagnosis and that one in four families will experience a 40 percent reduction in their income. He said the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the financial stresses for these families.

He explained that ThinkBIG works directly with hospital social workers, who send the organization applications and a list of utility bills that families want the organization to pay.

“ThinkBIG always pays the vendors directly and never simply disburses the money to the families,” Stankiewicz said. “We want to ensure that each family’s basic needs are being met with the assistance that is provided. Each family is currently allowed $5,000 worth of financial support within a year and each year is unique to a family. Since a pediatric cancer diagnosis typically takes 2-3 years’ worth of treatment, it is very common for ThinkBIG to help a family over the course of their entire treatment.”

Stankiewicz said the organization will also provide up to $5,000 toward funeral expenses for those who lose their pediatric cancer battle and sends each family $250 worth of Weis Markets grocery gift cards every November to help with groceries during the holidays. He added that last year the organization sent an additional $250 gift card to every family it had assisted during the year to help offset the additional financial stress brought on as a result of the pandemic.

ThinkBIG relies heavily on fundraisers through local school districts to support its mission. It plans to incorporate more school districts into its work in the future and partner with other nonprofit organizations to further its mission.

For more information on ThinkBIG Pediatric Cancer Fund, visit https://www.thinkbigpa.org/.

The First Federal Charitable Foundation was established to support worthwhile community causes. It strives to nurture nonprofit institutions and programs that will effectively serve those in need from the community, empower nonprofit institutions and programs that will expand their presence in and services to the area, and promote opportunities for new nonprofit institutions and programs that will serve the unserved.

Nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) IRS designation that are located in Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon and Columbia counties are eligible to apply. Any organization whose headquarters is in another county but services either Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon or Columbia counties may apply for a grant to be used in one of those counties.

For more information on the foundation or to obtain a grant application, visit www.1stfederalcharitable.org or email megan.kennedy@verizon.net.