Former Jacksonville Jaguars coach finds his reward in the smiles and ‘deep breaths’ of the families and children the Jay Fund are able to help
What is the Jay Fund. Watch and learn
Former NFL football players and other celebrities played in the fundraiser headed by former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin and his daughter, Keli Coughlin, CEO of the Jay Fund. The organization raises money for families whose children are battling different kinds of cancer.
The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund, established in 1996, has raised over $32 million to support families battling childhood cancer.The 30th annual Jay Fund Celebrity Golf Classic raised a record $975,000.Tom Coughlin finds his reward in the positive impact the Jay Fund has on families.
It’s well-documented what the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund has done for the victims of childhood cancer and their families since the inaugural Jacksonville Jaguars coach established the charity in 1996 in memory of Jay McGillis, the player Coughlin coached at Boston College who died of cancer.
In three decades, the Jay Fund has raised more than $32 million and impacted more than 6,700 families with financial assistance and support on the First Coast and the Greater New York Metropolitan area.
And this year was a record amount raised from the 30th playing of the Jay Fund Celebrity Golf Classic at the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course on May 19, with around $975,000 and counting, beating last year’s $800,000.
But what has 30 years of the Jay Fund done for Coughlin, the two-time Super Bowl champion coach with the New York Giants and took the Jaguars to two AFC title games as an expansion team?
What’s been his reward?
Coughlin considers the joy he and his family experience with the numerous success stories — even in cases where patients don’t recover but their family’s burdens are still eased — as all the reward he needs.
”When I go into a hospital room and they say, ‘thank you,’ I want to thank them,” Coughlin said before 160 players teed off at the home of The Players Championship (one of the major partners in the tournament). “No matter what the situation, with the parents, the child … if we have helped and they know we’ve helped and we’ve given them an opportunity to take a deep breath, that means a lot.”
Coughlin’s daughter Keli, the CEO of the Jay Fund, said it’s more than empathy and a desire to help others, although that runs strong through the organization.
”It’s an honor to walk alongside families that are going through their toughest moments,” she said. “It’s their darkest days. The fact that they allow us to be part of that circle and hopefully make their life a little bit better during that time … I think for us as a family it’s something we’ve really sort of grown to treasure.”
Jay Fund Classic attracts another strong celebrity field
The Jay Fund Celebrity Classic could rightly be called the organization’s “Super Bowl.” There is the Wine Tasting Gala in Jacksonville in February and the Champions for Children Gala each October in New York. There are also around 80 other fundraising events but none bigger than the golf tournament, which this year attracted the usual list of celebrities from sports and entertainment.
The golf tournament included former NFL players Kevin Hardy, Pete Mitchell, Mark Rypien, Josh Scobee, Greg Coleman, Luke Kuechly, Jeff Feagles, LeRoy Butler, Chris Snee, Bryan Barker and Tom McManus; former Jaguars coaches Doug Pederson and Mike Mularkey, former NFL coaches Dave Campo and Dick Vermeil, Major League Baseball player Daniel Murphy and U.S. Olympic gold medalist hockey player Jack O’Callahan; and actor Asher Grodman.
Banquet attendees were led by current Jaguars coach Liam Coen, Executive Vice-President Tony Boselli, coach Edgar Bennett, and current team members Logan Cooke, Cam Little and Ross Matiscik.
Asher Grodman said Tom Coughlin is the inspiration
Grodman, a Jaguars fan since he was 8 years old, said he was inspired by Coughlin’s speech at the banquet urging support for the Jay Fund’s goals.
”As an actor you meet a lot of people and there’s always the possibility of getting tongue-tied or speechless,” he said. “That never happens to me, except when I came here [the the Jay Fund Classic] two years ago and met Tom for the first time and I had no idea what I was saying. He and this team had a huge impact on my childhood and to hear him speak, who doesn’t want to run into a wall after that?
”Then you hear the stories about what the Jay Fund does, even without being in Jacksonville … and I wanted to get involved.”
Sloane Stadt is one of those stories
Sloane Stadt was only 3 years old when she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Hospitalized at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, she was isolated from her family, with only one parent able to visit at a time because of COVID restrictions.
Her mother, Ashley, had to quit her job. Sloane’s father, Jason, was working on half of his salary due to cutbacks in business and had to stay home most of their time with his oldest daughter Charlotte, then 9. Charlotte then had to donate bone marrow to help save her sister’s life.
Facing difficulty meeting their mortgage and even utilities, the family was told by a hospital employee that they might be able to get help from the Jay Fund.
”We weren’t really sure, month-to-month, week-to-week, what was going to happen,” Ashley Stadt said., “And the Jay Fund really stepped up, helped us pay our mortgage bills, paid our electric, some random bills.”
Jason Stadt said the burden was overwhelming until help arrived from the Jay Fund.
“They made it so we could pay the hospital bills, our insurance co-pays and keep a roof over our heads,” he said. “Ashley had to stop working during COVID. My salary was cut in half. I was making less then unemployment. And the Jay Fund stepped in. Such a huge help.”
And Sloane, now 9, is cancer-free, sings in her choir, is a cheerleader and is getting serious about Taekwondo.
Jay Fund also announces scholarship recipients
The Jay Fund also is more than helping families in the present. They’re helping ensure futures with the Jay Fund Scholars, which donates $10,000 for four years of higher education.
The 2025 recipients, all from the First Coast and all cancer survivors, are Te’Von Berry, Page Oliver, Morgana Donathan, Liam Gonzalez and Elizabeth Forte.
Like the football coach he is, Tom Coughlin doesn’t dwell on the past 30 years or the future of the Jay Fund.
“We always kept a perspective of every year,” he said. “Every year is the most important. The energy and passion that you see in Keli and her Jay Fund team … they’re amazing. They excite all of us. It’s very fulfilling, for all 30 years.”