A mutual fund industry charity's team is rallying fundsters online as the coronavirus crisis pushes back in-person events.

Frank Heavey Expect Miracles Foundation Executive Director

The Expect Miracles Foundation — Financial Services Against Cancer, a charity that raises money for cancer treatments and assistance to those financially devastated by cancer, has launched a new fundraising challenge amid ongoing lockdown orders. After the foundation's two largest fundraisers, which typically raise around $3 million total, were postponed due to COVID-19, an online alternative was configured.

Frank Heavey, executive director of the foundation, spoke with MFWire about the new Expect Miracles Putting Challenge, created for anyone with a formidable short game, the space for indoor putting, and a passion for helping those afflicted by cancer.

"Our mission is to rally the financial services industry to invest in life-saving cancer research while advancing the financial and emotional health of people impacted by cancer," Heavey says. "Frank [Strauss], our founder, started the Putting Challenge as a way to raise funds and awareness for the COVID-19 fund."

Strauss stated, "I created Expect Miracles Foundation 25 years ago by launching what we now call the East Coast Classic golf tournament. And while that event and the West Coast Classic are postponed due to the pandemic, the needs of cancer patients and survivors, especially young adults, are greater than ever because of this historic health and economic crisis. But you can still make a big difference with just a simple putt."

So far, fundsters are heeding Strauss' call and posting their own putting challenge videos to LinkedIn, using the foundation's #CancerIsntFree hashtag.

Heavey tells MFWire that the COVID-19 fund is aimed at those whose financial circumstances, already tight from cancer treatment and other expenses, are made more dire by the spread of the coronavirus.

"The Putting Challenge is specifically for our Samfund COVID-19 emergency fund," Heavey says. "Samfund is a program of financial assistance for young adult cancer survivors."

Of the foundation's past work, Heavey says, "It's impossible to say the exact number of patients we've helped, as much of our funds go to the research and development of therapies and technologies for the most pressing challenges in cancer research: real-time detection and prognosis. In terms of financial assistance, we have helped over 1,500 individuals with over $2 million in individual grants. The research side of our organization has given over $10 million over the course of 25 years."  

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