Daniel's Care Van will transport children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses to and from their outpatient appointments when the family lacks reliable transportation.Your generous donation will enable us to purchase a van and make this vision a reality. Why is this service needed: so we can alleviate one of the hardships some families face when their child is diagnosed with cancer or
another life threatening illness. These families can have multiple out-patient appointments per week and these appointments can last anywhere from 2-9 hours. Imagine spending 8 hours in clinic and then having to take a 2 hour bus ride, with multiple bus changes along the way after your child has received chemo and is now feeling sick and run down. Children undergoing chemo are also very susceptible to viruses. Any virus can potentially lead to long inpatient stays (separating the family), set treatment back by weeks, and yes be fatal to a child whose immune system is not functioning properly. How did this come about? In 2011 when I, Jeri Jones, took my 2.5 year old son Daniel to the ER I never expected them to tell me he had Leukemia; never. We began our journey into the world of childhood cancer. We were up before the sun came up to get to appointments; with a back pack filled with toys and games to get us through the long days. I noticed several families that we had been in clinic with standing at the bus stop in the afternoon and I thought “that is wrong”. My son Daniel endured treatment for 9 months before Leukemia took him but along the way he showed me what it truly meant to give to others. During one inpatient stay Daniel received several bouquets of balloons. When it was time for us to be discharged he asked if I would give his balloons to two other children he met in the hospital he said “maybe these balloons will make them be happy and not cry no more”. Of course those words brought tears to my eyes and more tears flowed seeing the big smiles from the new recipients of these balloons. I pursue the dream of Daniel’s Care Van to continue my son’s legacy of giving and maybe bringing a smile to a child’s face along the way. Please, please help make this a reality.
