Cancer Car Program (Unavailable due to COVID)
All members of Richmond Masonic Lodge contribute financially to the Cancer Car Program established by the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. In addition to their financial contribution some men also volunteer as drivers or dispatchers for the work.
Since 1989 the Freemasons of British Columbia have provided a service to enable cancer patients to get to treatment centres with a minimum amount of difficulty. The service is provided in association with, but at no cost to, the Canadian Cancer Society. It is presently available, free to patients, in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Thompson-Okanagan area of the Interior.
Volunteer drivers, using vehicles provided and supported through the freemasons of the Grand Lodge of BC and Yukon, pick patients up from their homes and take them to a treatment centre and back again, or, in the case of out-of-town patients, from the airport, ferry terminal or bus depot to the Cancer Lodge or other accommodation near the Cancer Clinic.
Financial support for the program is provided through an annual assessed amount, contributed by every freemason, towards the capital fund to purchase and replace the sixteen vehicles currently in use. This assessment also pays for the fuel, insurance and maintenance of the vehicles. Cellular telephones in each vehicle, together with the airtime, are donated. Drivers and Dispatch Personnel, the majority of whom are freemasons, are all volunteers.
Further information, or interested in volunteering:
Grand Lodge of BC and Yukon:
https://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/cancer.html
Canadian Cancer Society:
https://www.cancer.ca/en/support-and-services/support-services/transportation-bc/?region=bc
Freemasons Cancer Car program: