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nwuuw duuji, n p m /, i. j y y i i li-- \y, u \ • ii-.i-.i_> u i _ n v i-.l\ REAL SERVICE FROM REAL PEOPLE. THAT'S STAT! FARM. D on't tru st ju s t anyone to insure your car. see me: Hal Mayer 2861 Sherwood Heights Dr. 829-5200 Focus OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR OF THE OAKVILLE WATERFRONT FESTIVAL FOURTH LINE A U TO For A ll Your Car's Needs CAA Tune Ups In Business Approved Brakes in Oakville Shop Cooling System Since 1979 Gov't Safety Checks; Exhaust Systems 559 Speers Road • 842-3001 (across from Darigold) O akville B eaver Focus Editor: WILMA BLOKHUIS 845-3824 (Extension 250) Fax: 337-5567 Wanted: van for Red Cross tran sit A By Wilma Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR A nna Romain is wishing for a new set of wheels - but not for herself. She .wants a new vehicle, a wheelchair accessible van, for the Oakville Red Cross Society's growing transporta­ tion service. It's not so much that she wants this new van for the society - she needs it. Currently, the Red Cross has two vehicles, one that seats 11 including three wheelchairs and another that seats six including two wheelchairs. The larger vehicle was purchased by the Red Cross to replace an older van, while the smaller one is a donation from the Oakville-Trafalgar Rotary Club. The Red Cross is looking for a donor to help pay for the new wheelchair accessible van it needs, valued at approximately $50,000. The agency handles between 80 and 100 trips a day. It has 65 volunteer drivers - 22 of whom take their turn driving the vans. Last year, the Red Cross provided about 14,000 trips, said Romain, its volunteer transportation co-ordinator. "This program just doesn't happen without our volunteer drivers," said Romain. And, along with the growing need for volunteers is that wish for a new van. "I want a larger van for this program so that we can have a greater capacity and offer service within 24 to 48 hours," she explained. "Currently people have to book three days in advance, and we can't guarantee service. Some weeks we're so booked up we go beyond the three-day bookings. "If I send a vehicle out of Oakville - we take people to specialty services in Toronto, Hamilton and Mississauga - the demand is suddenly greater on the other van." Most of the demand comes from wheelchair bound clients who must go out of town for treat­ ment. "Other local transit operates within bor­ ders, so it's difficult for these people to get ser­ vice outside of town. I don't have these borders." (Other services will take people out of town, but may not pick them up). "If these people can't get rides, tjiey don't go to their appointments." The extra van would allow for flexibility in scheduling with the help of the mobile radios in each van. "Essentially, I want to run this service like a taxi company. I would like to be that flexi­ ble," said Romain. And, it continues to be a free service, with a primary purpose of getting clients to medical appointments. The Red Cross transportation service is fund­ ed through Long Term Care, the Oakville United Way, "and from generous donations made by users," said Romain. In January, the Red Cross provided 25 out-of- town trips. For every out-of-town trip, the agency was not able to service 10 to 12 people locally, because of the time away from Oakville. With another large van, the small vehicle could be reserved for the out-of-town trips. "With a new vehicle I would be able to offer much better service, and may even expand ser­ vice to Saturday. That means we'll have to do a recruitment for Saturday drivers." However, her main priority will always be getting clients to appointments during the week. Over 600 clients were serviced that month, representing over 1,200 trips. "We had to cancel 184 drives because of the severe winter storm." Photo by Peter J. Thompson Red Cross drivers Bill Davis and Brenda Pennington show their willingness to work along with fellow drivers shown in background. The Red Cross hopes to get a new van to expand service. Most of the clients are seniors. "We do about 1,000 senior drives a month," followed by over 200 trips monthly for physically disabled people. There were also 150 to 200 trips made monthly for people who were neither senior or disabled, but include those recovering from strokes or needing physiotherapy. For the past three years, Romain has made it a point to visit all new transportation clients to assess their needs, and to find the best matches between volunteer drivers and clients. "I've found this enhances the program," she said. "There's less of a chance of things going wrong." One concern expressed by wheelchair bound clients is that they cannot get service after hours. "This is another of my concerns," she said, hint­ ing the Red Cross may extend its service. Currently, the vehicles are on the road week­ days from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., "when the office closes. But, I'm in constant contact with our drivers through mobile communication, and I won't leave until the last van is back." However, many of the agency's private drivers provide after hours service, mostly for dialysis patients. The service began 30 years ago, with one-to- one matchings of drivers and clients. Gradually, the drivers began transporting more people, explained Romain. "If they had a four-door sedan, they would drive four people." Breast cancer survivor won accept limits on her life By Teresa Pitman SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Bobbi Moore Sixteen years ago this month, Bobbi Moore went through one of the most eventful weeks of her life. "On the Friday, we heard the wonderful news that a baby boy was now available for us to adopt," Moore recalls. "On the Sflnday, I found a lump in my breast. My doctor removed the lump on Wednesday, and told me he thought I had about six months to live so I shouldn't even consider adoption. Two days later - the bandages hidden by my coat - 1 picked up my new son." Today, Moore is not only enjoying her now 16-year-old son and her 27- year-old daughter, she is an active vol­ unteer with Burlington Breast Cancer Support Services, one of the partners in the newly-launched Choices 4 Health program. She credits this group with helping her through some very difficult times. "I first read about the support group in a newspaper article," Moore says. "So I joined, and this group has made a big difference to me. The major part is just having someone to talk to who has been through the same things, some place where you can vent your worries and concerns and talk about what has been helpful and what hasn't." The road between the discovery of that first lump and Moore's current state of health today has been a. rocky one. Eight years after her first surgery, the cancer returned in the same breast, and this time Moore had a mastectomy. Even that more radical surgery didn't end the problem, though, as she had 17 new tumors appear along the scar over the next few years. Each one had to be removed, and Moore also took a num­ ber of different medications hoping to slow the cancer's progress. But in 1994, the cancer returned in her other breast. She had a mastectomy and her lymph nodes were also removed, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. "This was very challeng­ ing," Moore says. "I lost every hair on my body - even my eyelashes." As of this April, though, Moore will have been cancer-free for five years. She is now a facilitator for a recurrence support group at Burlington Breast Cancer Support Services and com­ ments: "We found that it was too diffi­ cult for people who had just been newly diagnosed with breast cancer to be in a group with people who were dealing with a recurrence. So we started a sepa­ rate group." Some of her support also comes from a more unusual source. (S e e 'W o m a n jo in s . . . ' p a g e B 3) How To Sell Your Home For Top Dollar in 30 Days or Less! Call Colleen Pickett. .NATIONAL iCELLULAR* Personal Communications Centres Erin Mills Town Centre. Mississauga (905) 820-9200 422 Speers Rd Oakville. (905) 338-9200 Oakville Place. Oakville (905)815-9200 Square One Mississauca (905) 276-8500 Woodbine Centre. Etobicoke. (416)679-9200 3105 Unify Dr, Unit 1129 Mississauga (905)828-9200 1490 Dundas St E Mississauga (905) 848-2555 B o « M o t U M y