Samaritans Receives More Than $1 Million from Scripps Family Impact Fund

Largest One-Time Gift in Samaritans’ History Will Strengthen Youth Suicide Prevention

Samaritans, Inc., the oldest suicide prevention organization in Massachusetts, has received a $1,041,330 grant from the Scripps Family Impact Fund to enhance and evolve its youth suicide prevention efforts. It is the largest one-time gift Samaritans has received since its founding in 1974.

“The Scripps Family Impact Fund is helping us build a future where every young person has access to trusted suicide prevention resources, and no teenager feels alone or helpless,” said Kathleen C. Marchi, Samaritans chief executive officer and president. “The family’s generosity and compassion will have a lasting impact on teens across Massachusetts and beyond. We are truly honored, and we could not be more appreciative of this extremely generous award.”

Funding will enable Samaritans to expand Hey Sam, the only peer-to-peer youth mental health textline in Massachusetts. Youth up to age 24 can text 439-726 from 9 a.m. to midnight (ET) to receive free, confidential, nonjudgmental support from a trained peer. Since its inception in 2022, Hey Sam has answered more than 15,000 text conversations, including more than 5,000 in the past year alone.

With funding from the Scripps Family Impact Fund, Samaritans will look to expand Hey Sam’s capacity through extended hours of operation and an increase in social media promotion and advertising.

Samaritans will also use the funding to develop postvention grief support for teens who have lost a loved one to suicide, as well as create youth-centered educational content to increase awareness, reduce stigma, and offer accessible suicide prevention tools.

“There were so many compelling applications for the Scripps Family Impact Fund board to review this year, and all of them told a powerful story about their organizations’ ability to combat our country’s mental-health crisis, but the Hey Sam program was a gamechanger for our board members,” said Alex Bakkum, chief philanthropy officer for the Scripps family office. “It’s innovative, it’s easily accessible, and it works! We’d all prefer there wasn’t a need for Hey Sam, but the Scripps family is honored to work with Samaritans to extend the system’s life-saving success far beyond its Boston roots.”

The Scripps family is honored to work with Samaritans to extend the system’s life-saving success far beyond its Boston roots.

The Scripps Family Impact Fund was created in 2019 by descendants of legendary philanthropists, Edward W. Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. The Fund rotates its charitable focus each year to help nonprofit organizations increase their impact on the world. This year, the Fund focused its efforts on teen suicide prevention, inviting a select few organizations to apply for grants as part of a thorough national review process.

Suicide remains a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in the U.S., ranking second for ages 10–24. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, research shows that approximately 40 percent of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, 20 percent seriously consider suicide, and nearly 10 percent have attempted suicide.

“By strengthening peer support, addressing the often-overlooked needs of grieving youth, and expanding access to trusted prevention resources, we can make meaningful, measurable progress in teen suicide prevention,” added Marchi. “We thank the Scripps Family Impact Fund for joining us in our mission to prevent suicide and offer hope and support to those affected.”

For more information about the Scripps Family Impact Fund, visit ScrippsImpact.org.