Jeff Molby is a Rotarian from Caro, Michigan where he's been volunteering for the American Cancer Society through Relay For Life for the last few years. He's also a minimalist who loves to travel, so in October, he sold everything and set off on a two-year bike tour around the country in order to help people get to their chemo appointments.
He's ridden almost 7,000 miles and he's just getting started because there are wayyyy too many Americans that can't get to their cancer treatments right now.
For decades, the American Cancer Society has had a program to help with this, called Road to Recovery. It works like a slow version of Uber except the drivers are volunteers, the rides are free for the patients, and the stakes are... very high. Unfortunately, it's been heartbreakingly short on drivers since the pandemic. More than HALF of all requests were rejected last year because... we just don't have enough drivers.
Please check out ChemoRiders.org and come hear his talk to learn more!
His backstory:
Once upon a time, Jeff's son was invited by a friend to join their Boy Scout troop. At the first meeting, he found out the troop leadership had all stepped down. Twenty minutes later, he was on the new council as treasurer.
None of them really knew how to run a Boy Scout troop, though, so Jeff went to visit the troop’s sponsor: the Rotary Club of Caro, Michigan. He was blown away by the warm welcome and the values embodied in the four-way test, so… a couple weeks later he had his red badge.
Around the same time, Jeff was dating a woman who opened his eyes to the good work the American Cancer Society was doing through Relay For Life. He loved being involved in a problem that was truly global in scale and yet still profoundly local in impact. His initial involvement was limited, but then he took on an outsized role to help restart things after covid.
Jeff’s son went off to college this past fall, leaving him with an empty nest and a thirst for adventure. That’s when he learned about the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program and how they use volunteer drivers to help people get to their treatments.
They too need a post-pandemic boost, so Jeff combined his love of traveling and cycling to his fight against cancer, setting off on a multi-year bike tour around the country in order to raise money and recruit drivers.
He will present at the Northbrook Rotary Club’s September 3rd meeting, at the Hilton Chicago/Northbrook. Bring friends, colleagues, prospective members.
The meeting, including lunch, begins at 12:15. His presentation, along with any questions and answers, will run from 1:00 to 1:30, when we will promptly adjourn.
We are excited to learn more about this topic.
