Al-Pac had asked what the staff would like to see as their signature program and that led to Athabascan Madena Reimer being contacted to help get the non-profit organized and running, which it has, successfully for over 10 years.
Reimer banded with a handful of others to set the bylaws, come up with a name, and make a million other decisions to get it started.
"I said yes right away because I knew I wanted to give back and I want to help those with cancer because I've been there,” Reimer said. “And we just got together, started having meetings. ‘Okay, how we're going to make this work?’ ‘What are the bylaws?’ ‘What do we need to do to get this going forward?’”
The name of the group hadn’t even been decided when they started, and it was inspiration that led to what it is now called.
"I came up with the name Road to Hope because we didn't know what we were going to call this thing,” Reimer explained. “I thought ‘from the road’ and we're providing hope (and) that's really all we can do for them..so we come up with Road to Hope Community Support Foundation.”
After deciding on the nuts and bolts and a name the real work began in raising awareness, finding volunteer drivers and matching them up with clients and the need has risen ever since.
"In 2016 we had about 160 trips that we made, 2017 we made about 216 trips and in 2018 we did 306 trips,” she said. “And last year we did over 400 trips. So now we're increasing by like 100 trips a year.”
Reimer added the records that are being broken are not the sort of records anyone wants to see with new clients reaching out all the time.
“It's overwhelmingly sad,” she said. "Last year, we broke the record for the amount of drives in one month with almost 60 drives and right now for January, I’ve got 38 trips so far for this month and two new clients that are diagnosed this month already and it's just the beginning of the year.”
Before Road to Hope cancer patients would be forced to ride the Greyhound or rely on friends, family, neighbours and church members for rides into Edmonton for treatment.
"I don’t know what they did years and years and years ago before us because even to go on a Greyhound (with) compromised immune systems, sick, tired, weak, throwing up, and to be put on a public transit to get yourself to your chemo appointment,” Reimer stated. “It was very, very sad back before us.”
The volunteers
There are many arms that contribute to Road to Hope, from the drivers to Quilting for Humanity who donate quilts to Lori Labonte, a pharmacy aid at Value Drug Mart who helps with Buttons Up fabric store to create “comfort bags” for the clients. Other people donate additional items to round out the necessary supplies that go in each bag.
The bag comes with a journal for keeping track of appointments or to use as a diary, a water bottle, socks, foot cream, lip balm, a quilt and any other items Road to Hope deems appropriate.
"Each client gets a comfort bag and a quilt, and these quilts are just like a little piece of home, a piece of homemade love that that goes with them on their trip and (clients are) so grateful for just little things like that,’ Reimer said. "That’s what humanity is all about; helping those who need help and those who are going through some most shocking, scary times of their lives."
The drivers not only take the client to all treatment relates appointments, but they will go into the appointments if wanted. Not all clients want the driver to come into doctor appointments, but some do sit with them while they are having treatment or if they need to rest between appointments.
Reuben Coleman from Boyle has been a driver since 2012 and signed up in memory of two sisters he lost to cancer. Now that he’s retired, he drives several times a month for Road to Hope.
“We make about five, six trips a month, sometimes less. Typically, anywhere from six hours to 12 hours but usually more like about seven or eight hours,” Coleman said. “I had some time after retiring and I thought that it would be a worthwhile thing to do, helping cancer patients.”
The non-profit runs from Lac La Biche to Boyle to Athabasca and it takes in everyone in between but the community is small even if it’s spread out. The drivers and clients get to know each other, sometimes running into each other publicly.
That’s the case for Natasha Kapitaniuk who, along with her husband Dale, have been drivers for six months. Kapitaniuk got involved after seeing her stepfather use the program. She also has close friends who volunteer with Road to Hope.
“I would say that relationships are definitely made in that time you’re in the car together; friendships are born,” Kapitaniuk said. “You see them at the grocery store and you’re saying hello and because we’re a small community I see that as a huge blessing as well because they get to feel like they have a private bond with you.”
She has also not encountered a grumpy client, even though they are going through something life altering.
“The strength that we see these people put out and still have a smile on their face and be kind and gracious; I have never had anyone grumpy ever,” she noted. “And I think of anytime that should be the time that you’re allowed to be.”
Kapitaniuk is also encouraging others to sign up to drive. There is no minimum commitment and once you let Reimer know what days you are available each month, she only books you for those days.
“If I say ‘Madena, I can drive these two days this month and Dale can drive these two days’ she will not ask for anything outside of that,” she added. "You can dictate the days that you drive and so people might feel less like, ‘Gosh, what if she calls and I'm busy, I'm going to feel bad and say no,’ because that was definitely a fear of mine.”
Kim LeMessurier has been driving since almost the beginning and working part time allowed her to volunteer. Now that she’s retired, she can drive a bit more often.
“I just thought it was something that I could do to volunteer and help out. I was working part time so I could it on the days that I wasn’t working,” LeMessurier explained. “I thought that there’s so many people out there that they don’t have any way to get to their appointments; either they don’t drive in the city or they don’t have anybody else to drive them.”
Reimer is always grateful for the drivers and noted many still drove over the holidays.
“We even drove on Christmas Day to the city. How amazing is that for a driver to give up their Christmas Day? We drove Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Boxing Day. We drove New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, like cancer doesn't give up on a season, it doesn't give up on a day of the week or the year,” Reimer stated. “It continues on so if they have an appointment then we have to get them there.
"I was incredibly blessed to know these drivers because just to give up Christmas and they’re messaging me saying, ‘You know if they have to go, I can get them in there in the morning and still be back for Christmas dinner.’ How dedicated is that to strangers that you don't know, and wanting to help them knowing that their Christmas Day is being spent doing chemo?”
The reason
It is because of clients like Ricky Nault that keeps driving the Road to Hope. Nault just finished using the program after five years and like many clients he faced a financial burden travelling to all appointments and finding enough people to give him rides.
Nault sent Road to Hope a letter Jan. 14.
Road to Hope
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter because I am a Cancer Survivor that endured the unthinkable when diagnosed with the horrible disease in 2015.
Cancer takes a lot from a person and finances are one of them.
I am so thankful that Road to Hope exists because it was a major part in my recovery by driving me back and forth to and from my chemo appointments and supporting me in my most vulnerable time. Even when I was sick and tired and in misery not sure what I would have done.
I thank everyone who is involved in Road to Hope especially Gord, Reuben, Madena (my angel) and all the drivers.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your heart felt support.
GOD bless you all!
Sincerely,
Ricky Nault
Sheila Tubman agrees with Nault. She would have to rely on her husband to drive her and due to the economy, he isn’t working as much, and she has had to take a year off work for treatment. Road to Hope never charges a client for any trip. It also releases the burden of having to move to be closer to treatment.
Knowing that she will always have a ride lets Tubman and her family relax and focus on her recovery.
“I have no family around here and it’s a three-hour drive from where I live to the Cross Cancer Clinic,” Tubman explained. “A lot of times I can’t drive after chemo and some tests.”
She added she has never missed an appointment or been late to one.
“They are angels from Heaven because I have no stress when I get in that car — going for tests and going for doctor's appointments and going for chemo — they make an unbearable situation bearable because when I get in that car and by the time they get me home, I have no stress,” Tubman stated. “And I can't even explain how important that is in the recovery of cancer. They have eliminated the stress for me of getting back and forth for treatments.”
How to help
Donate time or money. You can volunteer at a fundraising event, becoming a driver, a member or by joining the board of directors.
Road to Hope has a yearly charity golf tournament in Athabasca in September and a Fun Run in Lac La Biche every May.
Road to Hope will be holding their annual general meeting in Grassland at the Community Centre Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
You can always contact Reimer at 780-327-9442 for more information. That is also the number to get a ride if you have been diagnosed with cancer.
Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @HLSox
