Our Commitment Remains Strong in 2026

Remembering Tommy with his legacy means remembering the outgoing, funny, fiercely loyal young man he was, and carrying his name into work that gives other young people the chance he didn't have. Together with family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, doctors and researchers across Boston we, the "Tommy Fuss Team", have become meaningful supporters of mental health research and suicide prevention.

For 20 years the Tommy Fuss Team has turned remembrance into action through participation in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's annual Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk and the Chatham/Morris County NJ Community Walk–raising awareness, reducing stigmas and funding important research in the area of suicide prevention. Over 120 Team members have collectively walked 3,800 miles, and with the support of several hundred Team supporters, we have raised over $1 million for the AFSP.

The Tommy Fuss Fund, a private foundation devoted to mental illness research with a special focus on children and adolescents, supports a commitment to research into the biology and genetics of psychiatric illness, so that these conditions can be diagnosed sooner and treated better. The Fund has built lasting partnerships, working side by side with clinicians and scientists in relationships that have grown from single grants into long-term collaborations. These include some of Boston's finest hospitals and research centers–Boston Children's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Harvard University, Franciscan Children's Hospital, and Newton Wellesley Hospital.

Your support over these 20 years has meant the world to us. Grief doesn't just go away, but it helps to be surrounded by love and to have a purpose: a promise to help other families never face the same heartbreak. Understanding how mental health conditions develop in children, so that young people like Tommy can be reached early and given a real chance to thrive, is our goal. Twenty years later we are reminded that love can soften grief, and that one young man's memory can help save countless lives. I am consoled and proud that Tommy's name will be tied to this research for generations.