To honor their son, Benton, who passed away from Tay-Sachs at the age of three in January 2012, Ian and Marie Auerbach established Benton’s Family Assistance Fund at NTSAD. Ian and Marie started Benton’s Fund to provide financial assistance to families seeking to purchase necessary items and services that promote comfort, ease, and a better quality of life for affected children and adults. Support from Benton’s Family Assistance Fund is granted to individuals and families who without financial assistance would be unable to afford specialty items and services.

• Family members caring for an affected child
• Affected adults and their caregivers

Examples of what is supported by Benton’s Fund:

• Strollers
• Equipment that helps increase comfort (e.g., positioning equipment for children) that is not covered by medical insurance
• Co-payments for durable medical equipment
• Short-term respite or nursing care
• Complimentary medicine, e.g., occupational therapy, Eastern medical approaches

The maximum request is $500 per year per family/individual. However, amounts for approved items are ultimately granted at the discretion of the grant review committee.

For families requesting equipment or help with the shipment of equipment, we ask that you maintain and care for the equipment, so that if, and when the time comes, equipment may be forwarded to another family/individual in need to use.

Please note: Shipping internationally from the United Sates is often a lengthy process and more expensive than shipping within the U.S.

To apply for a grant, please download the application and submit your request (69 KB) . If you are awarded a grant, you will be required to submit documentation for the item/service to NTSAD per our independent audit requirements.

Please send your request to:

NTSAD – Benton’s Family Assistance Fund
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 204
Boston, MA 02135

Or via email to becky@ntsad.org

For more information, call the NTSAD office at 617-277-4463.