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! 

 

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.

 

Carlos and sandy Frum's daughter, Daniela Lawler, accompanied them on their trip to Poland to transfer donations to Ukraine. They did this together with German Rotarians.

Since this was her first experience with a Rotary project, Carlos suggested she writes her thoughts about this. She lives in New Zealand. Here is her story. 

 

 

Although I am not a Rotarian myself, I had the unique opportunity to join my parents Carlos and Sandy Frum, and fellow Chicago-area Rotarians Rick and Helen Rivkin, Elke Friedman, and Lyle Staab as they travelled to Poland on a service project.

Their warmth and inclusiveness were evident as they welcomed me, a non-Rotarian, into their fold for this trip.

 

After several days spent touring Warsaw and admiring its growth and transformation since it was destroyed in World War II, we headed to Krakow for the main purpose of our trip.

 

Once there, we joined forces with the Rotary Club Mühlacker-Enzkreis of Germany in delivering €25,000 worth of goods to the Polish-Ukrainian border. This included: canned food and pasta as well as hygiene products, medical supplies, wheelchairs and mattresses.

We were able to help reload the goods from a German truck onto a Polish truck that would be allowed across the border in order to reach the parts of Ukraine where it was most needed. 

A particularly poignant moment of the trip was when Father Jan, a Polish Franciscan Monk representing the Franciscan Brothers, expressed his heartfelt gratitude. Father Jan’s role was to receive the goods and ensure their safe delivery to the Ukrainian people amid the ongoing crisis. Despite the chilly and overcast weather, the atmosphere was one of unwavering determination and unity.

 

This experience served as a powerful reminder of the impact our collective efforts had on those in need.

 

Although I had heard about Rotary’s service initiatives from my parents for many years, it was only through this firsthand experience that I fully grasped the depth of its impact and significance. The trip left me feeling invigorated and motivated to continue engaging in service within my own community.

What I hadn’t anticipated was how profoundly this journey would enrich my life through the friendships and connections I made along the way.

 

Beyond the deep sense of fulfilment and purpose that came from helping others, what truly stood out was the camaraderie and friendships formed within a group united by common goals of personal growth and service.

Even though we spent only a weekend together, the connections we made with the German Rotarians over shared objectives and experiences were profound.

 

This experience reminded me that despite our different backgrounds, our mutual dedication to helping others can forge lasting bonds. It highlighted an added dimension of humanitarian work: the valuable relationships and friendships we build along the way.

For me, this journey was as much about discovering new friendships as it was about delivering aid, showcasing the unexpected power of connections.