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referral, East Hawaii residents seeking assistance are enrolled in person or by telephone. Once enrolled, each client receives detailed information on additional educational, and quality of life programs available through the East Hawaii field office, Patient Services Center, and through community colaborations. 1) TRANSPORTATION TO TREATMENT After diagnosing an individual with cancer, doctors create a treatment schedule of protocol. The protocol is specific to the cancer and pathology, and is based on years of research. To miss an appointment is to fail to comply with protocol, and is critical to a patient's survival. This presents a serious challenge for patients who lack the human and/or financial resources to find transportation to and from their treatment, including some who are too weak to drive after treatment. A standard treatment plan for radiation therapy is a six- to eight-week course, administered daily. There are three oncology centers in East Hawaii: Hawaii Pacific Oncology Center (radiation and chemotherapy), Hematology & Oncology Center (chemotherapy), and Kaiser Permanente Hilo (chemotherapy). For rural community cancer patients, their drive for radiation treatment may end up being a 45 to 99 mile ride each way from their homes in Hamakua, Puna, or Ka'u a substantial drive for anyone on a daily basis. The American Cancer Society operates two programs providing Transportation to Treatment: Transportation Assistance Funds and Road to Recovery: • Transportation Assistance Funds: The Society will assist with coordinating air, travel, and housing arrangements for patients who must travel to Oahu for cancer care and treatment or simply to the hospital on the other side of the Big Island. Services include: inter-island airfare, partial reimbursement for mainland cancer treatment flights, taxi services, and gasoline debit cards. • Road to Recovery: This program utilizes volunteer drivers, who provide rides to and from doctors' appointments for those unable to arrange their own transportation due to financial limitations or the effects of cancer and its treatment. Volunteer drivers, based upon availability, donate their time and use their own cars and gasoline for this program. Ground transportation to and from medical appointments, a simple courtesy deeply felt by patients too frail, weak, or emotionally drained to travel on their own. Drivers for the patients are specially trained volunteers, many of whom are themselves cancer survivors who can add a special measure of empathy and compassion to the journeys. 2) SUPPORT GROUPS Often, from the very first day of diagnosis, talking about cancer can be difficult, but conversation is open and therapeutic in American Cancer Society's support programs. Patients speak with each other and survivors in ways that only they can do, offering mutual understanding and sharing strength. The American Cancer Society develop and promote three programs NONPROFIT GRANT APPLICATION FISCAL YEAR 2009-10 Page 3