Support our services

Marie Keating Foundation Comfort Fund financially supports more than 500 families thanks to private donations from individuals and corporates

Looking to 2018, the Foundation is concerned with the increased number of applications for the Comfort Fund which provides financial assistance to cancer patients

In 2016, 531 families were supported by the Marie Keating Foundation Comfort Fund, thanks to the generous personal and corporate donations from a range of companies, including myLotto24, Marks & Spencer Ireland and Homestead.  The Marie Keating Foundation Comfort Fund provides financial assistance to people who are currently receiving treatment for any kind of cancer and who find themselves in financial difficulty as a result. This is one of only a few such funds in Ireland that aims to help those who are struggling financially to pay medical costs, household bills, transport costs and childcare expenses.

One such recipient of the Comfort Fund is Jamie Cremins, 25, from Kerry who is currently being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma.  On the subject of the financial implications of cancer, Jamie said ‘the financial aid provided by the Foundation is priceless to me and my family. It helps me pay for the things I don’t need to be worrying about while I am sick.  The Comfort Fund helps me with my petrol to travel to the hospital, food and phone bills and much more. It really helped ease the burden during this stressful time”.

As we approach 2018, the Marie Keating Foundation wants to ensure that they are able to continue to retain as well as grow this fund to share the financial burden suffered by families during an already extremely difficult time in their lives.

 Liz Yeates, CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation, said: “The financial difficulty that people with cancer can face during their cancer journey is something that is incredibly stressful but rarely talked about. The Comfort Fund provides vital support and reassurance to those suffering financially due to the many additional costs a cancer patient has to endure. Currently, this support can only be provided thanks to the generosity of donors like myLotto24, Marks and Spencer Ireland and Homestead.  We have seen a huge increase in the demand on the Comfort Fund and would not have been able to award these vital grants without their ongoing support.”

Shenaly Amin, Ireland Country Manager, myLotto24, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Marie Keating Foundation’s Comfort Fund. myLotto24 has a longstanding record of giving back to good causes; it’s something we’re very proud of as a business. Our support for the Comfort Fund is part of our commitment to being a responsible business in Ireland.”

*The online brand of myLotto24, which holds an Irish betting licence and is a supporter of the Marie Keating Foundation Comfort Fund, allows consumers to place bets on a range of lotteries and games around the world via the website www.mylotto24.ie.