The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteer drivers in Iowa who can take cancer patients to and from their treatments when they have no other means. Theresa Allen, coordinator of the agency’s Road to Recovery program, says the driver must be at least 18, have a valid license, insurance, and access to a passenger vehicle.
Allen says they’re looking for people who have a spare time between 9 A.M. and 4 P.M. as that’s when radiation and chemo treatments are generally done at cancer centers statewide. They need to have a car and the want and ability to help somebody one day a week or even one day a month.
Allen says you can list your mileage as a charitable contribution, but she says it’s much more than a tax deduction. She says “Everybody, in some way, shape or form, has been touched by cancer in their family, so just the desire to really make the difference in getting somebody to their treatment, and honestly a program like this is very often the difference between somebody getting to treatment and having that hope for a cure and not getting there.”
Allen says the volunteer won’t have to take much time out of their day to make a big difference in a cancer patient’s life. She says a patient getting radiation is usually in and out in 15 minutes while a chemo patient may be several hours. It would be arranged for someone else to take the person home as Allen says the volunteer would never be expected to wait longer than an hour. Volunteer drivers are needed across Iowa. For more details, surf to the American Cancer Society website at “www.cancer.org” or call 800-ACS-2345.