PhillyPatientRide Celebrates 1000th Free Ride for Philadelphia Cancer Patients

Philadelphia, PA, June 07, 2011 -- PhillyPatientRide, a joint effort by Philadelphia car sharing organization PhillyCarShare and the American Cancer Society, is proud to announce the completion of its 1000th free ride provided to Philadelphia cancer patients. Since its inception in January 2011, PhillyPatientRide’s 100+ volunteers have provided free rides to and from cancer treatments in PhillyCarShare vehicles.

PhillyPatientRide is the first program of its kind in the country using car share vehicles. The hospitals partnering in this program are Hahnemann, Jefferson, Temple, University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital.

Every day, thousands of cancer patients face the struggle of securing reliable transportation in addition to their exhausting fight to beat cancer. In 2010, Temple University Hospital estimated that 40% of their patients required transportation assistance. When public transportation is too strenuous or unavailable, when family members cannot rearrange work schedules, and when other transportation options are too costly, the lack of transportation can interrupt treatment schedules for patients. Alleviating transportation barriers results in better treatment outcomes and ultimately, saves lives. The goal of PhillyPatientRide is to maximize the effectiveness of cancer treatment for Philadelphia patients by providing door-to-door service with friendly volunteers to ensure that transportation is NOT the reason for missing an appointment.

In suburban neighborhoods, volunteers for the American Cancer Society using their own personal vehicles have been a viable option. Here in Philadelphia, however, many volunteers do not own a vehicle or are unwilling to use their personal automobiles because of insurance or financial concerns. To solve this problem, PhillyCarShare has offered its car share vehicles and increased the pool of available volunteers to anyone over the age of 21 with a valid driver’s license. Patients are referred by social workers at participating hospitals. Because transportation is a universal need, age and economic status are not a consideration to use this program. The American Cancer Society generously provides funding for PhillyPatientRide vehicle usage at a reduced rate and PhillyCarShare employees coordinate the program’s day-to-day operations. PhillyPatientRide widens the scope of volunteer participation by giving volunteers access to the PhillyCarShare fleet and helps ensure that patients have a reliable transportation option.

By the numbers- (Jan 1, 2011 to May 31, 2011)

* 1,000 rides fulfilled
* 111 volunteer drivers trained and ready to drive
* 202 additional individuals who have inquired about the volunteer opportunity
* 100% of patients served by PhillyPatientRide said that they would recommend the program to other patients
* Approximately 50% of active volunteers are University students

For additional information about the program or to sign up as a volunteer, please contact: Natasha Boothman info@phillypatientride.org

Patients who would like further information regarding transportation options can contact Jamie.McCann@cancer.org

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit http://www.cancer.org/

About PhillyCarShare
PhillyCarShare is a Philadelphia-based non-profit car sharing organization founded in 2002 with the mission of reducing automobile dependence in the Philadelphia region by offering a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to car ownership. PhillyCarShare promotes an urban lifestyle in which members walk, bike, and take transit more, and save an average of $4,000 annually versus private vehicle ownership. In addition to the Philadelphia residents who participate in car sharing, PhillyCarShare currently serves our business community of over 1300 for-profit and non-profit companies, universities, and government agencies. To learn more, visit http://www.phillycarshare.org
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Contact:
Gerald Furgione
PhillyCarShare
125 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-495-1059
gerald@phillycarshare.org
http://www.phillycarshare.org