Sam L Cohen Foundation

About Sam L Cohen Foundation

A $1,000,000 grant to the Maine Children's Cancer Program set the scale for Sam L Cohen Foundation’s recent giving: this is a Maine-focused funder making large, targeted commitments to pediatric care, hospital infrastructure, and youth-serving institutions. The foundation’s recent records also show repeated support for capital campaigns, including a $250,000 gift to Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine and a $250,000 grant to Maine Medical Center, both in Portland. Those awards point to a style that favors projects with durable impact, whether that means clinical leadership, new facilities, or major campaign support. Beyond health care, the foundation supports organizations that serve children and teens through community spaces and services. Recent grants include funding for teen center sustainability, food access, immigrant legal and advocacy work, and Jewish community organizations. The pattern is local and concentrated: nearly all of the grants in the data go to Maine recipients, with Portland appearing often among the recipient cities. The foundation also gives to organizations in Bangor, Auburn, Westbrook, Augusta, Alfred, and Colchester, but the overall profile is still strongly centered on southern Maine and on organizations able to use significant, designated support.

What Sam L Cohen Foundation Funds

Health and child services are central to the foundation’s recent grantmaking. In 2025, it gave $125,000 to Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine for director of community relations, and $50,000 to Maine Jewish Museum for the DELET program, showing support for Jewish culture and traditions as a program area. Food security is another clear theme. The foundation awarded $100,000 to Good Shepherd Food Bank for Biddeford Area Food Access in both 2023 and 2024, and it later gave $50,000 to Preble Street for food programs. Youth development also appears through a $125,000 grant to My Place Teen Center for the My Place Teen Center Sustainability Campaign. Immigrant-focused work is represented as well: Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition received $50,000 for strengthening organizational capacity and emergency support program operations, followed by a $45,000 operating grant. The foundation also backed Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for southern Maine sliding fee scale services.

How Sam L Cohen Foundation Gives