As of July 1, Expect Miracles Foundation and the Samfund have joined forces in a partnership to maximize impact in the fight against cancer.

Samantha Watson The Samfund / Expect Miracles Foundation Founder / Managing Director of Stewardship

As part of the deal, Samfund founder Sam Watson has joined the Expect Miracles team as managing director of stewardship.

"Becoming part of Expect Miracles Foundation, combining resources, and leveraging our respective strengths and relationships will give us the opportunity to finally get ahead of the problem," Watson stated. "Our hope is that, by providing support earlier and using our history and insight to develop solutions, we will be able to prevent some of these financial crises from happening in the first place."

Frank Heavey Expect Miracles Foundation Executive Director

Since 1995, Expect Miracles has contributed more than $10 million to cancer research and patient care. Since 2003, the Samfund has contributed more than $2 million to more than 1,000 young adults fighting cancer. Indeed, Expect Miracles executive director Frank Heavey notes that the foundation had already worked with Samfund prior to the deal.

"When we began to consider launching a program to provide direct financial assistance to cancer patients and survivors, my first call was to Sam [Watson] to ask for her advice," Heavey stated. "We had built a great relationship with Sam after awarding three grants to The Samfund."

"We believe at the same time we are investing in cancer research to help people become cancer free, we recognized cancer is not free, so we have a strategy by investing in a cure and research as well as investing in care because care is part of the cure,”"Frank Strauss, founder and chairman of Expect Miracles Foundation, told MFWire.

The partnership was formed in hope to better position the charities to connect to those who have resources with those in need. The Expect Miracles Foundation and the Samfund teams plan for a more efficient and stronger organization, allowing supporters to have a greater impact through this partnership.

"One of our goals at The Samfund has always been long-term sustainability. By partnering with Expect Miracles Foundation, we will be able to provide more support to more young adults and their families," stated Steven Bandrowczak, chairman of the Samfund board of trustees. "I look forward to continuing to grow The Samfund's programs in my new role as Co-Vice Chairman of the Expect Miracles Foundation Board of Directors."

Indeed, Bandrowczak and his fellow Samfund trustees — Lex Friedman, Sharon Karsten, and Corey Peterson — have all joined the Expect Miracles board of directors as part of the deal.

"The more we talked [with the Samfund], the more we realized there was a tremendous opportunity to have a great impact by joining forces," Strauss says.  

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