Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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CancerCare

Financial Assistance

What you get

Help paying for childcare, home care, food, household bills, and transportation, plus referrals to other financial help if CancerCare cannot fund your request. Ask whether requests are open.

Who starts it
You, with a document from your doctor
How it’s sent
Online, on their website
Your time
About 15 minutes, plus waiting for the document
Last checked
Aug 27, 2026

Before you start, check you fit

  • Help is first come, first served and depends on which expenses are funded.
  • The eligibility page requires past or planned surgery.
  • A currently open fund must match the patient and expense.

  1. Ask your doctor for the documentStart here. This is the part that takes the longest.

    CancerCare needs a signed confirmation of the diagnosis from your doctor. It has to cover 3 things. Copy this message, or say it in person at the next visit.

    Hi [doctor’s name],

We’d like to apply to CancerCare’s Financial Assistance. Help paying for childcare, home care, food, household bills, and transportation, plus referrals to other financial help if CancerCare cannot fund our request. We are checking whether they are taking requests.

They need a signed confirmation of the diagnosis from you. It has to cover diagnosis confirmation, active treatment or surgery status, and provider completion of all medical fields. Their form and instructions are here: https://www.cancercare.org/financial

Could you do that when you have a chance? I can send you the link, or bring a printout to our next visit. Thank you for everything you do for us.

[your name] · [phone]
    Copying is the only thing this page does with your text. Nothing is saved.

  2. Fill in their applicationIt is on their website.

    Open their application ↗ Checked Aug 27, 2026

    What the form asks for

    They don’t publish the questions in advance. Have your contact details, your child’s diagnosis and date, and the hospital’s name to hand.

    Have ready

    • Signed tax-return pages or a current pay, unemployment, SSI, SSD, or public-assistance record; if there is no income, a support letter.

  3. Submit it on their websiteSend the document with your application, or the way they ask.

    • Return every completed section and document using the exact address, email, or fax printed on the individualized bar-coded application.
    • Do not reuse another applicant's application or a generic destination.

After you send

Keep a copy and confirm receipt through the CancerCare contact route printed on the individualized application. If you have not heard back in two weeks, write and ask whether it arrived.

Full record, as published