Last fall, when the Canadian Cancer Society decided to cancel its volunteer driver service, hundreds of patients had no way to get to and from their appointments.
For 71-year-old Myra Ford she relied on family and friends for help but worried it was an imposition and put too much stress on them.
“I took a cab once — it cost $100,” says Ford.
George Garrett was one of 380 drivers who used to volunteer for the Canadian Cancer Society and says he felt awful the program was being cancelled.
For the past 25 years, drivers have taken patients to life-saving treatments, getting 41 cents per kilometre as compensation. The Canadian Cancer Society said it cut the program to save about $400,000 a year.
“I knew a woman who tried to take SkyTrain and the bus to her appointment at Surrey Memorial Hospital,” says Garrett. “It took her all day, and she could hardly walk.”
Experiences like these caused a group of those drivers and dispatchers to step up and fill the void by creating Volunteer Cancer Drivers.
The program begins Monday and still needs more volunteer drivers and donations. Drivers will primarily serve patients in Delta, Surrey, Langley, North Vancouver, White Rock and the Tri-Cities.
The volunteer fleet of drivers will take patients to their appointments, stay with them, and drive them home again.
John MacInnes says he loved driving for the Canadian Cancer Society for 10 years as a volunteer, and this new program will also offer free rides to cancer patients.
“We want to have a legacy that 25 years from now the program is still going,” MacInnes said.
“What we need to achieve that is volunteers and financial assistance from the public and companies.”